The Proposal
by RukiaRae
Summary: When threatened to be deported, Raven blackmails her assistant, Gar, into marrying her. After a week at his family's house, will more than just a business deal develop between the two of them? bb/rae AU rated after the movie
1. Chapter 1

**A big thanks to CRYSTAL13 who gave me the idea and helped read and give me feedback on this chapter...thank you so much! **

**Hope you all like it!  
**

**Chapter 1: Mornings  
**

Rachel liked to start her day early. She was up before the sun. She was always very busy being the head of a publishing firm. She was allowed to select what books went into publishing and which ones were not. So each morning, she began her day by biking. She had her exercise machine facing the television so that as she biked she could play scenes of nature and, theoretically, pretend she was there instead of in her New York flat. After a while, she wasn't sure why she bothered with the television, after all, she was too busy reading manuscripts during her morning exercises that she barely noticed the scenery anymore.

Rachel was very uptight and strict. Each morning she woke up at 6:30 went through this routine of exercise for an hour before getting ready for work. She was always at the office by 8:30 sharp, somehow managing to pull herself together and look professional in a short time. _Years of practice _she thought wryly. Looking at her watch, which read 7:28, Rachel stopped her work out and turned off her t.v., leaving to begin getting ready.

* * *

Garfield Logan woke up to the sun in his face. He hadn't shut the blinds the night before and so now the sun was streaming in at full blast through his large window, enveloping him in its orange glow. Garfield opened his eyes lethargically and lay in bed.

_Why haven't I heard my alarm yet? _He thought in a panic. He never got up before his alarm. Worriedly, Gar looked over at his alarm clock to see it flashing the time 12:00 over and over. _Shit, it reset itself_! Gar then grabbed his brown leather watch, which was just in front of his alarm clock, and the time read 7:46.

"Shit!" said Gar groggily before scrambling out of bed to get ready. He had just 44 minutes to get ready and grab her tea. Plus, it was always a good idea to get there about 5 minutes before her, just to look prepared. Doing the math in his head, Gar calculated that he had 39 minutes to get ready and pick up her coffee and get to the office.

Normally, Gar hated doing math in his head, especially in the morning. Hell, he hated doing math at all. At any of the previous jobs he worked at, he would just throw something on and show up, possibly 5 minutes late, and apologize profusely. Most of his bosses had been understanding about such situations. But his current boss, Ms. Rachel Roth, was completely different.

She had a schedule and threatened anyone who disturbed it. As it was, being her personal assistant, if he was late, that threw off her entire day and put her in an even worse mood than usual. And he was trying to get her to publish a manuscript he wrote, so he was trying to stay on her good side.

To be honest, Rachel terrified Gar. She was very intimidating despite her short size and petite features. And she had dark, dark brown hair and deep eyes that Gar could swear turned black when she was angry. Cold, harsh and black. Her glares were just as terrifying as her threats, but what made her worse was that she would follow up on her threats. If she threatened to fire you, unless you groveled and begged for forgiveness, you were gone. And he had put up with this demon for 2 years, Gar was not about to about to let all that effort go to waste.

This was the sole reason that he was running down the streets like a maniac, nearly being ran over twice, to reach the starbucks. He needed to get her tea and he needed to be at the office. He only had about 10, maybe 12 minutes if he was lucky.

* * *

She finished showering and got dressed in her usual attire, a dark jacket-black today- over a long pencil skirt that cut off a bit past her knees. She also wore tall black pumps several inches high to make herself taller.

She then grabbed a quick bowl of cereal, frosted cheerios to be exact, and ate as she continued to read over this manuscript. It was good so far and held her attention, which was fairly difficult to do. She was impressed, a word she rarely used.

Once he arrived at the coffee shop, he could already see the crowd of people waiting in line. He hoped that Jessica, the pretty girl with the brown and cotton candy pink hair who worked the morning shifts, had already made his drinks. He ordered the same drinks each morning, which was one time he thanked himself for Rachel's strict routine, and when he was running late she usually took the liberty of making them for him, which was always greatly appreciated.

As Gar got in the back of the line he heard Jessica call out, "Garfield!"

He saw her holding out two teas and grinned. As he passed the line to get his teas, he could hear the groans of several customers who had to wait in line, but he didn't care that he annoyed them at this point, his ass was on the line.

"Thank-you, you literally saved my ass," Gar told Jessica. She just laughed at him as he dashed out of the coffee place and sprinted to the office. He wove through cars and shoved many people, a fact that he wasn't proud of, but he had made it to the building with 6 minutes to spare. He spotted an elevator that had almost closed, but he was able to slip on by turning sideways and quickly shuffling through the closing doors.

He felt the lurch of the elevator as the doors paused, sensing something-in this case, Gar- between them. The 5 second pause annoyed several of the passengers on the elevator.

"Everyone okay?" Gar asked out of obligation. He received a few grunts. Considering he had almost _died _to get on that elevator- okay not died but almost lost a limb at the very least- he figured _someone _on that damn elevator would ask how he was, even just out of politeness.

When they didn't, Gar added "Me too." _I'm making all kinds of enemies today and its only the morning _mused Gar. While on the elevator, he used the time it took to ascend to the 26th floor to breathe and recompose himself.

* * *

On her pleasant, yet determined, walk to work Rachel called Frank. He was a well-known writer of novels and books in New York and internationally. She was calling to confirm his attendance as a guest on Oprah's show. Rachel hated this part of her job, calling and schmoozing with the writers, who acted like celebrities. And in her circle, they were. But still, they were annoying to deal with because she always had to stroke their egos.

So today she called Frank and began the conversation by saying in a happy (but still restrained, basically she wasn't bubbling over with enthusiasm but still sounded pleased) tone:

"Frank! How's my favorite writer?"

She listened to his noncommittal tone as he mentioned he had been thinking of the previous conversation they had had.

"Well of course you've been thinking about our talk because you know I'm right," Rachel said confidently. With this writer, she knew she had to be tough.

He kept saying wishy-washy things, which aggravated Rachel but she managed to keep her composure.

"Frank, people in this world are busy and broke and they hate to read, they need someone they can trust to say 'Don't watch CSI…Indianapolis or something tonight, instead, read a book. Read Frank's book.' And that person is Oprah," reasoned Rachel.

_Damn, can't wait until I get my tea, I need it this morning._

_

* * *

_

Gar quickly exited the elevator.

"Cutting it close!" called the receptionist. Yes on this floor, everyone was acquainted with the menace of Rachel Roth.

"One of those mornings…" he replied then added, "thank-you Captain Obvious." Yes, he was having a bad morning. One which only got worse.

While talking to the receptionist, Gar accidentally ran into Xander, one of the members of the office. Xander was nice enough, but this morning Gar didn't have a lot of time, or patience.

"SWEET JEEEZ-US!" Yelled Gar, he didn't have a lot of time until Rachel got there and now he looked like shit with tea covering his shirt and two wet, spilled cups of tea in his hands. Thankfully, he had enough left in both where if he poured them both into one of the cups he should have enough to give her. _Thank God. _ He could hear Xander mumble an apology before slinking off, but Gar wasn't concerned with him now.

Desperately, Gar dashed over to Victor Stone, a tall coworker who worked on repairing any damaged technology and kept the software updated on the computers of all the employees on the floor. Vic happened to be his best office friend.

* * *

"Frank, the truth is all A+ novelists do publicity…Ross, McCourt, Russo," Said Rachel sternly and sensing he was about to cut her off, she quickly continued, "Frank, can I tell you what else they had in common? A Pulitzer."

Rachel was tired of trying to sway this guy into showing up on Oprah. Of all of the five people on the planet who _didn't _want to end up on Oprah's show, Rachel had to somehow work with one of them. It was maddening, she had already spoken to him for about 10 minutes and he _still _hadn't confirmed, despite her solid arguments. She needed this guy to appear on Oprah, for the safety of her job. Well, she wouldn't be fired if he decided not to, but she'd look like a miracle worker if she got him on the show.

And in this company, image was everything. Which is why she also demanded that her assistant, who represented her, always look pristine.

Rachel made her way over to the elevator nonchalantly, she still had 3 minutes to spare.

* * *

Gar saw Vic at his cubicle, already chatting away on his computer. _Lucky bastard _thought Gar _He gets to chat pretty much all day while I have to work directly for Ms. Roth. _And that often meant he was doing her dirty work. Like picking up tea.

"The shirt off your back, literally." Said Gar, sounding desperate and covered in tea.

Vic looked uncertain as he asked, "You're kidding, right?"

"Yankees-Boston this Tuesday. Two company seats for your shirt. You have 5 seconds to decide. 5-4-3-2-1." Gar was dead serious, and spoke quickly-when he made this request. _And I was really looking forward to that game too. _But Gar knew sacrifices had to be made.

Actually that was something he knew all too well, working with Rachel.

* * *

As Rachel got off the elevator, everyone got to work. They stopped socializing, hell they stopped smiling.

What Rachel didn't know was that several of the employees sent chat messages to one another, sending warnings that 'its here!'. So when Rachel stepped out of the elevator, everyone looked like they were working and had been for the past half an hour.

Several employees also changed their course when they saw Rachel walking determinedly to her office. Many stood by the wall until she passed, a fact that made Rachel very happy. It was by these small things that she knew she was still feared on her floor, a fact that made her job easier.

* * *

Gar was straightening out his- well actually Vic's- red tie with seconds to spare. He could hear the blips on some of the computers, announcing the monster's arrival. He owed Vic BIG. Because Vic had traded both shirt AND tie with Gar. Now Gar looked as immaculate as expected and would not be shot. _At least not right away _he thought. Gar also had in his hand the cup of hot tea, thankfully there was enough left between the two cups to provide for a full cup.

He looked as ready as he did every other day, despite the close call. How he made it, he had no idea, but he was grateful nonetheless.

"Morning boss," Gar greeted as Rachel entered and handed her the tea, "you have a call in half an hour-"

"-yes, about the marketing and book signing, I know," interrupted Rachel.

"… and a staff meeting at 9:30," continued Gar. He was used to being cut off by Rachel.

"Did you call…ugh, what's her name?...The one with the ugly hands," she asked while mimicking the lady's twisted hands, the concern about the call evident in her voice.

"Janet," supplied Gar.

"Janet, yes, Janet."

"I did call her," said Gar, thankful that he had remembered to do so yesterday, "I told her if she doesn't get her manuscript in on time, you won't give her a release date. Also the immigration office called and said it was imperative-"

Again, Rachel interrupted, "Cancel the call, push the meeting off to tomorrow, and keep the lawyer on the sheets. Oh, and get ahold of PR and have them start drafting a press release. Frank is doing Oprah."

The whole time she was giving orders, Rachel was, thankfully, looking at the papers on her desk and missed Gar's eyerolls.

All Gar actually said to her, though, was, "Wow. Nicely done."

"If I want your praise, I'll ask for it," snapped Rachel as she turned to her computer, ready to get to work.

Gar was almost out of the office unscathed when Rachel turned back around and stopped him.

"Um," started Rachel, causing Gar's body to tense up, "who is, uh who is Jessica and why does she want me to call her?"

Rachel held the cup up so that Gar could see the call me note along with the number underneath it.

"Well…," Gar decided to tell the truth, "that was originally my cup."

"And I'm drinking your tea, why?" asked Rachel coolly.

"Because your coffee spilled," answered Gar. He was so unnerved by the way she was assessing him with her gaze.

Rachel frowned but nodded, as if she finally understood. She took another sip of the tea, noticing the uncertainty and fear present on Gar's face.

"So, you drink unsweetened green tea too, huh?" Rachel inquired.

"I do," replied Gar, "it's like comfort in a cup."

"Is that a coincidence?" she pressed, a knowing smirk forming on her lips.

"Incredibly, it is," answered Gar sarcastically (but without any malice in his voice), "I wouldn't possibly drink the same thing you drink just in case your's spilled, that would be, uh, pathetic."

Gar answered the phone in the corner of the office that had started to ring. He was grateful it decided to ring at that moment, sparing him from seeing the amusement on Rachel's face.

"Morning, Ms. Roth's office," greeted Gar politely.

"Hey Bob," remarked Gar, surprised the man had called. _This wasn't in the day's schedule. _Upon seeing Rachel wave her hand at him in a dismissive gesture and turn around, he told the guy, "yea, we're actually headed to your office right now."

Gar then hung up the phone and turned to Rachel. "Why are we headed to Bob's office?"

Rachel just made a tsk noise instead of answering the question, a sound that Gar mimicked before quickly exiting the office. He then dashed to his cubicle and IMed the office that 'THE WITCH IS ON HER BROOM,' before Rachel left the office. He could already see everyone pretending to do work again.

He then rejoined Rachel when she exited the office and followed her to Bob's office.

* * *

**Review if you liked it! **

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took so long to update but I just had a long family reunion after the fourth of July so I've been really busy. Updates should be quick again :) Once again, thank you so much to BG-13 (Got the name right this time :) ) for all the help! And thank- you to everyone who reviewed, I'm really glad you all like it so far!**

**And without further ado...  
**

**Chapter 2**

"Did you finish the manuscript I gave you?" Gar asked eagerly on the walk to Bob's office.

"I read a few pages and I wasn't that impressed," lied Rachel, smoothly as ever.

Truth be told, it was his manuscript that she had been reading in the mornings as she did her daily exercise. Normally, she wouldn't take a manuscript home unless she was behind on editing, but she actually enjoyed reading his book. _It's incredibly profound for, well, for him _Rachel thought.

"Can I say something?" Gar asked, the annoyance present in his voice.

"No," said Rachel, and it was like an ultimatum. After that, he usually didn't push her further. _But this is different _thought Gar. It was why he put up with her crap on a daily basis for several years now. He needed that book published so that he could escape the menace known as Rachel Roth and instead be one of the high profile authors that she tried to please and coax into doing interviews.

"I've read thousands of manuscripts and this is the only one I've given you, it's an incredible novel," he pushed, trying to sell her on investing time into the tome, "the kind of novel you used to publish."

Gar would've continued, except both he and Rachel saw Victor walk by in Gar's tea stained shirt from earlier that morning. And Gar could tell from the look on her face that she had put together the fact that it was his. _Great._

After seeing the stained shirt, Rachel remarked, "And I do think that you order the same drink as I do just in case you spill which is, in fact, pathetic."

_Fantastic _thought Gar sarcastically, _not only is my boss a bitch, but she's also a commentator._

"Impressive," Gar responded, unable to keep his annoyance at bay.

"It would be more impressive if you didn't spill it in the first place," Rachel retorted quickly, "And, remember, you're just a prop in here." She then gestured to Bob's office and Gar understood.

"Got it, won't say a word," he promised before holding the glass door open for Rachel to enter Bob's large office.

The office had a nice view of the city and, although it was painted a bland beige color, it was still adorned with some simple artwork, an ancient map, some book props, and some furniture. Bob was sitting behind his large desk and on the other side of the room from his desk was a comfortable chair and a large cabinet set.

Bob rose as they entered his domain.

He then greeted them with, "Ah, Our fearless leader and her liege. Please, do come in." Rachel only slightly raised her starbucks tea mug as a response.

Bob was relatively average height for a male and had a pair of gold spectacles he used for his work. Whenever he had to look at someone, he would just peer over his gold-rimmed glasses to see them. Today he wore an off-white color shirt and a salmon colored tie- _quite hideous _Rachel mentally critiqued.

She did have to give Gar some credit, at least he didn't look completely ridiculous at work, he had good taste, simple but professional.

And although Bob would be poised best to wear this combination as his caramel skin could offset the color, she still didn't like it. Or his sarcastic attitude.

Trying to be somewhat polite to this imbecile, Rachel decided she would try to complement him. Well, not him exactly (_What's there to complement?),_ so she decided to comment on the decorative cabinet.

"Oh, beautiful breakfront," she said, gesturing to the wooden piece and walking over to examine it she asked, "Is it new?"

"It is English with some Egyptian revival built in the 1800's," he replied, "but yes-it is new to my office."

"Witty," remarked Rachel in a voice dangerously low. He was grating on her last nerve. Which made her next statement easier to say.

"Bob," she paused, "I'm letting you go."

She then glared at him as he looked up from his sleek apple computer, almost daring him to challenge her authority.

Bob looked surprised, to say the least. So did Gar, for that matter. His head nearly whipped in her direction after she made this declaration, and she thanked him mentally for once actually listening and not getting involved.

Bob's glances flickered from Rachel to Gar, and then back to Rachel before he asked, confusion evident on his face, "Pardon?"

Rachel's voice was emotionless as she explained, "I asked you over a dozen times to get Frank to do Oprah- and you didn't do it." Her words came out slowly, as if she were explaining this to a troubled preschooler, but her voice lacked any warmth.

Gar awkwardly looked from Rachel to Bob, and sensing the tension was escalating, he discretely closed the door so that none of the other office workers would hear the ensuing argument.

Bob whipped off his glasses, and with his hands oh his hips, he defiantly said, "I have told you that is impossible. Frank hasn't done an interview in 20 years."

Gar's eyes widened imperceptibly-_Uh oh, she got Frank to do the interview, Bob's in for it-_ and he moved one of his hands to his mouth to prevent from butting in. The other hand he used to support the arm of the hand covering his mouth, in attempt to make the gesture look more natural. It didn't. Gar wasn't aware that he looked as scared as the time he forced himself to watch the film _Wicked Scary _with his friends.

"Well, that is interesting because," Rachel paused to send a glare to Bob, "I just got off the phone with him and he is in.

Gar didn't move except to shift his gaze over to Bob. Disbelief was written all over his face.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You didn't even call him, did you?" Rachel chastised. _He didn't put any effort into this task at all, how can he be surprised that he's being fired? _Rachel thought to herself.

He just looked at her, his silence answering her question adequately.

"But-" Bob began, attempting to explain himself, but Rachel cut him off as she advanced to his desk.

"I know," she began condescendingly, a face of mock comfort flitted across her petite features, "I know, Frank can be a little scary to deal with-for you."

Rachel was happy to add that last part and -finally- set him straight. She began examining the books on his desk and picked one up, rifling through it as she gave him the details of his firing.

"Now, I will give you 2 months to find another job and you can tell everyone you resign, okay?"

She took the book and with a glance of approval, gave the book to Gar to carry. He, of course, took a look at it on his way out.

She hadn't waited for a reply from Bob seeing as she gave him a generous offer. He was fired with dignity, and considering how many times he tested her patience, she figured he'd be glad with the offer. He really did make out like a bandit.

"What's he doing?" Rachel asked when they were just out of his office. She made Gar turn around so that she wouldn't have to herself, that way she didn't look like she was doubting her decision.

Gar turned to see Bob pace back and forth, his face contorted with anger.

"He's moving…and he has crazy eyes," He informed.

"Don't do it, Bob. Don't do it," mumbled Rachel under her breath, just as Bob came busting out of his office.

"You. Poisonous. Bitch," yelled Bob theatrically. Rachel just stopped, a look of pure, unbridled annoyance on her face.

At this, the whole office quieted down, and stared, very few dared to challenge Rachel Roth.

"You can't fire me!" he yelled. She calmly raised her eyebrow and turned to face Bob.

Gar quickly passed in front of Rachel to reach the division of cubicles, where he sat at the edge of someone's desk to watch the procession with a degree of safety.

Bob continued on his angry rant, "You don't think I know what you're doing, sandbagging me on this Oprah thing just so that you can look good to the board! Because you are threatened by me!"

At the last comment, Rachel gave a small satisfied smile. Her face only reflected amusement. _She must love to torture these people _thought Gar as he saw how truly unaffected her demeanor was.

"And you are a monster!"

"Bob, stop," Rachel cautioned in a eerily calm voice.

"Just because you have no semblance of a life outside of this office," Bob continued, and Gar noticed many people began to shoot worried glances at one another aware of what would happen, "doesn't mean that you can treat all of us like your own personal slaves."

_Uh-oh, big mistake _thought Gar. He knew Rachel. She was an emotionless-well not entirely, her emotions consisted of anger, annoyance, and sarcasm- person who, when provoked, was capable of nasty things.

At this, Rachel turned her head to look at the other employees and gave a small sarcastic laugh; she still appeared amused at his speech.

"You know what? I feel sorry for you, because you know what you're going to have on your deathbed? Nothing and no one."

At this comment, Gar closed his eyes, wishing for Bob's sake that he would bite the bullet and shut up. He was making this so much worse.

He then heard Rachel take in a small, angry breath and take a few steps forward.

"Listen carefully, Bob," she began, her voice like ice, "I didn't fire you because I feel threatened." At this, Bob raised an eyebrow, _Again with the theatrics _mused Rachel, and looked at her increduously

"No, I fired you," continued Rachel, "because you're lazy, entitled, incompetent, you spend more time cheating on your wife than you do in your office (At this he glanced worriedly at her-yes it did sometimes pay off to pay attention to the office gssip). And if you say another word, Garfield here is going to have you thrown out on your ass."

Rachel didn't mention that it was a spectacle she'd like to see.

He was about to continue ranting and speaking when she loudly cut him off, "Another word, Bob," she then continued in her soft, sharp voice, "and you are going out of here with an armed escort and Garfield will film it with his little camera phone and he will put it on that internet site."

She then turned to him and asked in a quieter voice, "What was it?"

"YouTube," supplied Gar, ignoring the look Bob gave him.

"Exactly," Rachel redirected her attention to Bob, "Is that what you want?"

Bob turned to look at her, and although he still looked angry, he withheld from saying anything.

"Didn't think so," threatened Rachel, "I have work to do."

And with that, Rachel turned her back and sauntered off, Gar close behind. And the office began working again as if nothing had passed.

When they had walked a bit farther from Bob, Rachel told Gar, "Have security take his break phone out of his office and put it in my conference room."

"Will do," replied Gar respectfully. He wasn't as stupid as he figured Rachel thought, he knew when not to mess with her or test her patience. Like now.

Gar still clutched onto the blue book Rachel had removed from his office, gripping it tighter than he normally would. Rachel on edge meant that he would be on the receiving end of her bad mood. _Thanks, Bob._

Gar was so lost in thought that he almost missed her next comment.

"And I need you around this weekend to review his files and manuscripts."

"This weekend?" he asked, startled.

"You have a problem with that?" she snapped, stopping to give him _the look_. The you're-fired-too-if-you-don't-do-this look.

"I-I just…my grandmother's 90th birthday, so I was-uh, going to go home…," sputtered Gar. He had secured this weekend off months in advance.

But Rachel had already begun walking again and missed half of his ramblings.

"It's fine, I'll cancel it," he called after her, annoyed that he had to disappoint the family again and that she didn't care, "you're actually saving me from a weekend of misery anyways…good talk, yea."

He walked over to his cubicle area outside Rachel's office and picked up the phone to call his parents. _Best get this over with then._

"Yea, I know, I know," said Gar quietly into the phone, guilt evident in his voice, "tell Gammy I'm sorry…"

Of course, half his family was on the phone lines speaking to him all at once.

"What did?- Mom, I know what do you want me to tell you? She's making me work the weekend. No, I'm not, no. I've worked too hard for this promotion, okay?" Noticing Rachel walking over to him he whispered quickly, "I'm sure that dad is pissed."

She then reached his desk, so he said in a stern, professional voice, "But we take all of our submissions around here very seriously and we'll get back to you as soon as we can." For good measure he shook his head disapprovingly like he'd dealt with an insane customer as he hung up the phone.

"Was that your family?" Rachel asked sternly.

After a pause, Gar decided to tell the truth. Again. So far she had yet to kill him for telling him the truth about the tea so maybe he'd be lucky again this time.

"Yes," he responded tersely.

"They tell you to quit?" she probed?

"Every single day," replied Gar, just as his desk phone began ringing. Quickly he picked it up and greeted with the customary, "Ms. Roth's office."

Rachel waited for his short phone call to end to talk further with him.

"They want to see you upstairs," said Gar. Upstairs was code for the board. When you were called up there it was almost always either to receive praise or be fired. And you knew when it was praise.

Yet, Rachel didn't seem surprised. She just gave an angry growl noise before telling him to get her in 10 minutes. "We have lots of work to do," she justified.

_Great, just great _thought Gar.

* * *

Rachel turned and walked briskly to the elevator, curious about why she had been summoned.

* * *

**There it is, chapter 2! Please please please continue to review!**

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae**

**P.S. To 'The Reader' yes this is going to be like the movie. I may add a few differences if I think of anything cute/funny to add but this story will end the way the film did.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay... first off I want to thank all my reviewers, you've really helped a lot!**

**Arkan9- Thank-you for your review! I think it did have some wonderful advice and it's something I have struggled with my other movie fic, which is why it's on hold for a bit until I can figure out what to do with it...for this one, I was using the film to help get me started. In this chapter, the events still follow that of the film, but I've changed some things and made it a lot more original. After the immigration office (because I'm not sure how those things work), it will definitely be a whole lot different from the film with the same principle :) But, really, thank-you for your honesty, it really did help!**

**Here it is, **

**Chapter 3!  
**

Rachel marched into the office to see one of the members from the board, Mr. Lucian, seated next to Malcolm, one of the men who worked with the immigration office.

She had many dealings with Malcolm, as he had to make sure that she was completing her paperwork and staying within the country. Considering he visited her house more often than anyone else, she wasn't surprised that they had a fling.

Well, _he _considered it a fling. She had actually liked him and she told him about _everything- _things that bothered her, the murder of her mother and death of her father, when she was feeling lonely or upset, etc. He pretended to care, but she later found out that he was cheating on her with his secretary.

Needless to say, she wasn't thrilled. And it was one of many reasons why she hadn't pursued a relationship since. She wasn't at all happy that he was there, either. But she figured she could get through this meeting and back to work soon. If not, well Gar would get her in 10 minutes. _I can handle this for 10 minutes. _

"Well, there have been some problems processing your citizenship request," began Malcolm. Rachel turned and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What problems?" she asked, tersely.

He was a little taken aback by her reception; _Yes, I'm still angry with you _thought Rachel.

"Well…you traveled out of the country when you were specifically told not to," Mr. Lucian said. Obviously, the two men had been talking before she arrived.

"Th-that was because our client was going to sign with someone else! I had to go to the book fair to persuade him to stay on with us, I _saved _that deal!" Rachel pleaded, "You have to understand."

"And it seems some of your paperwork was not in on time," added Malcolm. Rachel glared at him; he wasn't helping at all.

"So what does this mean then?" asked Rachel cautiously. This meeting wasn't going as she thought or hoped.

"You're being deported," said Malcolm with a smug, sly grin stretching across his face.

She wanted to yell at him, she hadn't done anything wrong and he was _purposefully _trying to make her life a living hell (after he already screwed it up once).

"Deported? You've got to be kidding me," she replied in her monotone voice, however, upon seeing their solemn looks, she amended, "Okay, okay, but I'm Canadian, it's not like I'm an illegal alien!"

"Even still, you must leave the U.S. for one year before you can reapply for citizenship," informed Malcolm, still grinning his evil grin.

_A year?_

"Um, ok-okay okay, uh," Rachel stammered, "W-well, Canada is obviously not the best option, but I can still manage the firm from there with vid-chat and satellite conferences, and I'm sure I could even travel back and forth…it's only a year."

Rachel smiled _Take that Malcolm, you can try to get me to leave, but you can't take away my work!_

"Well, the thing is, you won't be able to work for an American company," explained Mr. Lucian, "So we plan on promoting Bob to your position."

Rachel felt like puking. She had just fired Bob and had a huge fight with the guy. _Shit._

However, Mr. Lucian misread her paling face and startled look.

He gently tried to reassure her, "We really wish we could keep you, you're the best we have, but there's no way around this."

Just then, Garfield stepped inside the office.

"I'm sorry, we can't help you at the moment sir," stated Malcolm upon seeing Gar at the door, "I'm afraid we're otherwise engaged."

Malcolm had always spoken with a sophisticated vocabulary, one of the things that Rachel _used _to like about him. Back when there were things to like. She could see his onyx eyes glittering with malice, he thought he had her.

And for a moment, she thought he had too. _Engaged, huh? _Rachel narrowed her eyes at Malcolm and then smiled.

"Well, it turns out, that Garfield and I are engaged," Rachel stated.

Gar just looked petrified.

Malcolm laughed, "Why, pray tell, does the then look like a deer in headlights?"

Rachel cursed softly under her breath at Gar's idiocy.

"B-because I wasn't really supposed to say, him being my assistant and all," replied Rachel, happy she thought of such a smooth lie.

Rachel couldn't resist taking the bait, "It wouldn't be the first time someone has fallen for their secretary, now would it, Malcolm?" She then smiled a smile that oozed fakeness.

For once, Malcolm's sly grin ran from his face and he openly glared at Rachel.

Mr. Lucian seemed oblivious to all of this. He just said, "Make it official, then," and winked at her.

Rachel just gave a small, strained laugh. "Alright, so we're good? Ok-ay, lets go Gar." She threw them one last smile before walking over to Garfield.

Gar was still rooted by his spot at the door. She grabbed his arm, and while trying to look like she was infatuated with Gar, she yanked him from the office and pulled him along to the elevator. Under his breath Rachel could hear him mumble, "Who's getting married?"

She glared at him, urging him to shut up until they reached the safety of her office. _At least he's smart enough to shut up for now._

As soon as they crossed the threshold to her office, Gar began panicking.

He started pacing back and forth, trying to sort everything out in his mind saying things like, "I'm can't marry you," and "How could this happen to me?"

Rachel, meanwhile, was seated at her desk, hard at work ignoring him. _Does he really think that marrying me would be that bad?_

He finally composed himself enough to ask, "So what the hell just happened."

"I was about to be deported," answered Rachel, not looking up from her paperwork. The less Gar knew about the situation, especially Malcolm, the better.

"….So I have to marry you?" he asked, clearly confused.

Rachel decided to ignore the confusion that was splayed obviously across his face. She refused to explain this.

"Yes, exactly," she briefly glanced up at him, "So why are you bothering me?" She began to massage her temples, today was _really _not going as planned.

"I'm not going to marry you," he (tried) to threaten. Rachel laughed, _boy is he in for a rude awakening._

"Fine. Don't," she snapped, "But as soon as they hire Bob back, you'll be instantly fired. That means, all the years of working with me, all the morning tea runs, all the late hours and missed family holidays will have been for nothing."

Gar knew she was right. He groaned.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Look, I don't want to be married to you either. But don't worry, we'll be divorced soon after." She paused, looked him over, and added with a frown "In fact, I can guarantee that."

Gar was just stunned. First he was told he'd have to marry an emotionally demented demon, and then (despite the fact that this helped her more than him) she still had the nerve to insult him. Not that he was eager to point this out to her.

Gar just stood there awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do or say to her.

She, of course, noticed his discomfort and let him squirm for a while before barking her orders.

"You're useless," she said, deadpanned as ever.

She sighed, "Just get the car ready and be downstairs in 5 minutes, we have to visit the immigration office."

Gar walked to the door and took one last glance at his boss.

He noticed the lines underneath her eyes and couldn't help but wonder why she stressed herself out so much.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," he heard her razor-sharp voice cut through his thoughts.

Her chilly voice banished any traces of sympathy away from Gar's mind, he quickly left her office and went to his cubicle to call the car.

He barely registered the stares of the other office workers, and therefore, it didn't really creep him out. That is, until Vic (still adorned in the tea-stained shirt) came up to his cubicle.

"Seriously man, you're marrying her?" he laughed, "Dude, good luck."

Then Gar realized his worst nightmare had come true. Not only did he have to marry this bitch, but _everyone _knew. _It's like the dream when you're only in your underwear and everyone's laughing at you, except this is so much worse…and it's real _thought Gar.

And, worst of all, he couldn't explain to his friend the terms of the engagement, how it was only just to protect his career.

To make matters worse, Rachel finally left her office and was ready to leave.

"Let's go Gar. Now," she commanded, her voice was still on edge.

As they were walking past, Gar finally registered each confused face and sly smile and just wanted to die.

And then he heard Xander mumble to him with a cocky grin, "Well, we all know who the bitch of this relationship is."

Gar had never- at least not in a long time- felt the urge to punch someone this badly. But he refrained, instead walking faster to put more distance between him and the instigator.

They finally glided down the elevator and reached the company car. Rachel was eager to get to the immigration office to get this settled.

_Great, so now I'm going to be Rachel Logan….fuck that, no way am I giving up my last name for_ _him_thought Rachel venomously.

She sat as far away from him as she could and faced the opposite window, leaning her forehead against the cool glass for the duration of the ride.

* * *

**Hope you all liked the chapter! Sorry it was a bit short, I just wanted to get them out of the office :)  
**

**Please continue to review!**

**~RukiaRae  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! I hope you guys like this chapter! The next few chapters is where things get interesting haha...thanks to everyone who reads and thank-you to all my awesome reviewers! And another big thanks to BG-13 for all the reading and the big idea!**

**Hope you all enjoy...**

**...Chapter 4!**

Rachel emerged from the black company car, not even waiting for Gar. She stormed into the immigration office and took her number. _So we're A78 and they're on A37, fantastic _thought Rachel bitterly. She found a chair and pulled out a manuscript from her large, black purse.

Gar entered the office and looked for Rachel, finally spotting her sitting in one of the several chairs that lined the windows. He almost laughed at the way she sat, she tried to arrange herself so that only a miniscule part of her was actually touching the chair. So she was seated at the edge of the chair, one leg crossed over the other, and her back was rigidly straight. _Looks comfortable _thought Gar. As he approached where she was sitting, he noticed she was reading a manuscript. He was disappointed to see that it wasn't _his _manuscript. He sighed and sat next to her, pulled out his cell, and decided to play tetris.

He vaguely noticed that she scooted away from him after he sat putting more distance between herself and him, and considering she was fairly skinny, she managed to put about a foot of space between them.

He still couldn't get over the way she was sitting. After all the years of working with her, he had known she was obsessed with cleanliness, but not being able to sit in a chair was sad. He chuckled recalling the memory of her insisting that if she dated anyone, he'd have to floss or else she wouldn't kiss him.

Rachel arched her brow at him after hearing him chuckle, but didn't do anything. She was tempted to comment, but she knew it would be sarcastic and reveal her disdain for the guy next to her. And now was the time to actually make it convincing.

When it finally was their turn, they were pulled into a back office of the facility. Like all government buildings, it was white and nondescript. No posters or decorations adorned the walls, there was only a simple desk cluttered with papers and two worn out chairs in front of the desk.

_No wonder the government is so slow, that desk is a disaster _thought Rachel as she sat down, stuffing her manuscript back into her bag.

_Doesn't she ever take a break? _wondered Gar.

"Alright…Mr. Logan and Ms. Roth is it?" asked the official, looking as drab as the office he inhabited, as he slipped into the office and sat at his desk, "so you're both engaged?"

"Yes." They both answered simultaneously.

"Forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical, I'm sure you won't mind answering some questions for me," continued the employee.

"Why are you skeptical? Did someone tell you that you should be?" asked Rachel, getting to the point.

"Uh, my colleague, Malcolm, uh-_advised _me that I should scrutinize your case closely," replied the worker, narrowing his eyes, "Are you both aware of the consequences if you are, in fact, lying?"

Gar's eyes widened, he hadn't thought about what would happen if he was caught. He shook his head no before realizing that he didn't actually want to know.

The man began to explain nonetheless, "You, Ms. Roth will be deported. And you, Mr. Logan, will face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 250,000 dollars."

Gar felt sick.

"If you want to come clean now, I will ignore all charges," he paused, before continuing, "If not, I will ask you some basic questions, test your knowledge of each other. So which will it be?"

Gar gulped. Rachel, however, replied confidently, "Let's get started, then."

She had perfected looking cool and composed in such situations, though she was actually nervous. She didn't really know much, well _anything _technically_, _about Gar.

But she wasn't about to let Malcolm get the best of her. _Not again._

So she waited as the official located the packet of standard questions and began to ask them.

"So, how long have you both been engaged?"

Considering Rachel was the most composed, and that this was a question she could answer, she replied, "Six months tomorrow." She tried to infuse her voice with infatuation and hoped that it worked.

"Have both of you told anyone, friends, family?"

Again, Rachel decided to answer, "Well, my parents are dead, so nothing to say there. And I really don't have many _friends," _she then added for good measure, "Gar is my best friend. He's my everything, I guess you could say."

And it hadn't occurred to her, until she said this, that it was actually kind of true. She didn't have friends. Or family. All she had was work. And he was the one person who knew the most about her. She felt sad at this realization, an emotion she rarely allowed herself to feel.

"What about you?" sneered the man in front of them, directing his question at Gar.

Rachel tried to see his name, but his nameplate was buried under several stray sheets of paperwork.

"Uh, I haven't told them yet…" trailed Gar. The man just narrowed his eyes.

Rachel, however, was glad she paid attention to Gar that morning. "We're going to tell his family this week, when we go to visit for his- Nana's 90th birthday. Isn't that right sweetie? Oh, did you buy those tickets yet?"

Seeing the man's posture relax, Rachel knew this information had _seemed _true enough.

"And where are you headed this week, then?" he asked.

_Oh shit _thought Rachel.

"Brazil," replied Gar. (A/N: In the episodes with the brotherhood of evil, Brazil was one of the places marked. And in homecoming, the hideout was in the middle of the jungle.)

The man seemed satisfied for now.

"Alright, well when will you be back?" he asked.

"We leave tomorrow, we should be back next Saturday," answered Gar.

Rachel was tempted to argue, she knew he was extending the stay because of all the other missed family vacations; he wanted to milk this one for all it was worth. But, considering the circumstances, she didn't.

"Okay, well that Monday, how about you come back for interrogation?"

Both Rachel and Gar nodded, they couldn't really refuse the offer.

Both of them thanked the man as they scrambled out of the offices and back outside into the thick of New York.

"Okay, buy tickets for tomorrow," ordered Rachel as she made her way to the nearest bench to wait for the car.

"Hold. On." Said Gar, grabbing her arm and turning her around before she could sit, "Did you not just hear the penalty for doing this?"

"Uh, yea, it's not that bad," she answered, "And we should be fine as long as you're done acting like an idiot. You really need to learn how to act."

"NOT THAT BAD? For you, maybe. But for me? $250,000 and 10 years in jail?" Gar was in a full out panic, "That changes things, like a whole hell of a lot!"

Rachel just looked at him coldly, but he ignored her look.

"I want a promotion for doing this," he demanded.

Rachel knew the _instant _she promoted him, he'd leave. So she replied, a little too quickly, "No."

Gar gave her a skeptical look but persisted, "Fine then I'm quitting and you're being deported. Nice knowin' you." He began to walk away.

Rachel growled, "Fine."

Gar tried to hide the happiness he felt, he had been vying for a promotion for _ages. _He almost felt like hugging her. _Almost. _Yeah, it was that great.

"Really?" he squeaked. His (poorly concealed) happiness actually made Rachel feel guilty about the fact that she had no intention of promoting him.

She didn't trust herself to speak so she just nodded.

He grinned, "Okay Rae, so I'll book the tickets tonight and call you or something to let you know about tomorrow!"

Rachel would've warned him about the use of her nickname, but before she could, he was off. She sighed and bought a pretzel from one of the street vendors, nibbling away at it while she waited for the car.

When the car _did _arrive, she had it take her home so she could get a head start on packing.

She slumped out of the car and trudged into her sleek, modern apartment. The decorations were simple, but modern. Most of the colors in her house were silver appliances with white walls. Touches of color from artwork and furniture made her penthouse look lived in.

Her second favorite room (second to her room, of course) was the living room. It was all white, including most of the carpet. The carpet, however, had an abstract pattern at its center that trailed off to a corner of the room. The design featured several colors woven together and reminded Rachel of a prism. The room also had a crescent shaped purple couch with a round, glass coffee-table in front of it. In front of the couch, protruding from the wall, was a grand stone fireplace. Two large windows, with drapery to match the couch, framed the fireplace.

She passed through this room to the white hallway, with several works of art adorning the walls. They added touches of color to the otherwise unwelcoming white walls. Rachel would've painted her entire apartment with a _darker _color palette, however, her interior decorator at the time advised against it. He claimed that dark colors made rooms feel more enclosed, so she listened. She made her house feel welcoming, though in retrospect she would've defied the decorator. After all, she never had any guests anyway.

At the end of the hall, she entered her room, which was dark. It was painted a dark, dark blue; _like the night sky. _

Her walls were lined with bookshelves despite the fact that she actually had a small "library" in her apartment. Her room also housed several candles, she liked their scent as they burned. She also had some incense around her house in decorative bottles. Her room was decorated with art and sculptures that she found fascinating, though she figured others would think it was creepy.

Apart from the bed, desk, and bookshelves, the rest of her room was relatively empty. She went to her closet and rummaged through it to find suitable items to pack.

She found herself at a loss as what to pack for Brazil, so she packed as much as she could, just in case.

Later that night, as she was cooking her dinner, flipping through channels on her mini television in her kitchen, she heard her phone vibrating.

Fearing that it was a business call that she couldn't miss, she lunged for her purse in the dining room, but her arm banged the pot on the stove, knocking it to the floor and causing it to spill its contents on the floor with a loud clang. Rachel cursed and stumbled out of the kitchen, the scalding water, needless to say, wasn't comfortable against her bare feet.

In her haste to exit the kitchen, she stubbed her toes on the kitchen's central island, causing her even more pain. _Shit this hurts...ow!_

When she finally did reach her phone, she was disappointed to see:

GARFIELD LOGAN

_I went through all of that trouble, just for that? _She thought bitterly, answering the phone in time before it reached voicemail.

"What?" she snapped peevishly into the phone.

_"Um, I called about the airport times,"_ began Gar nervously, _"…I can call back later if now's a bad time…"_

Rachel took a deep, calming breath before answering in a softer tone, "Now's fine."

She plopped down on one of the wooden chairs in her dining room, grabbing a pen from her purse on the table and a napkin to write everything down.

_"Okay so the flight leaves at 8 am," _Rachel groaned but he continued, _"It's at gate E17. We're flying from American Airlines, but I already printed out our tickets…so I'll meet you at security at around 7:15, k?"_

Rachel nodded before realizing that he couldn't hear a nod.

"Okay, sounds good."

With that she hung up and turned her attention to the mess of noodles and the small flood that occupied her kitchen floor. She sighed, and having no inclination to pick it up, she dropped some papertowels on the mess to soak up the water and left the noodles on the floor. She ignored her growling stomach and went to her room, letting sleep take over, it was going to be a long week.

* * *

Once they had crossed the security gates, and paid a large sum of money for all of Rachel's carry ons, they made their way to the gate. Along the way, Rachel smelled the food from several restaurants, the smell wafting past her. It wasn't until then that she realized how hungry she was. Having only a pretzel in the past 24 hours wasn't good for her system, she was sure. Gar noticed Rachel looking distractedly at the restaurants, but paid her no mind. When they reached their gate, Gar pulled out a thick packet.

"Okay, so here are some questions they're probably going to ask us next week. So the good news is that I know most of this stuff about you, but you only have a week to learn all of this about me."

Rachel sighed, "Best get started, then."

She took the packet from Gar and scanned through the questions. Then, out of the blue, she asked, "Are you part Portugese?"

Gar just gave her a funny look, "No. Why?"

"Then why does your family live in Brazil?" She inquired, unable to keep her curiosity at bay.

"They're biologists. They moved there to research some of the animals that live there," replied Gar.

"Oh," was all Rachel could think of as a response, "I didn't know that."

"Of course you didn't," snapped Gar, "The last 2 years have all been about _you._"

Rachel directed an icy glare in his direction. But she knew it was true, and she felt bad about it. Rachel shook her head, she _really _needed to get a hold of herself, and she put down the packet and pulled a novel from her purse. If he was going to be that way, fine.

Gar sighed. He could see that he annoyed her. And he knew the comment was uncalled for, but she took so many jabs at him that he felt _justified _in doing the same. He didn't mean for her to take it personally.

After a moment of silence Gar said, "Look, I'm sorry."

Rachel just looked at him. He _apologized_? He was confusing her, he never apologized. He must have noticed the look of shock on her face because he quickly added, "Hey look, the plane's here. Get in line, I'll be right back."

She gave him a questioning look before nodding and getting in line as she saw Gar take off. She was happy that they always took first class, it meant they got to board first and have space to themselves on the long flight. Her stomach was beginning to growl with hunger, and at the sluggish rate Gar was going, Rachel knew that her chances of buying a meal were slim. _Dammit. _

Gar returned a bit later, just in time for them to begin boarding. While filing onto the plane, Rachel could smell the sweet scent of cinnamon rolling off of one of the passengers, instantly making her jealous of the person with the cinnamonn roll. She had yet to identify the passenger who was tormenting her so.

When they finally found their seats, Rachel noticed that Gar took the window seat leaving her with the aisle (Rachel noted, sadly, that there was no seat between them). She also wanted the window seat. _Badly._

She knew the aisle seat was more convenient, as you never had to ask to go to the bathroom (not to mention you didn't have to pass by anyone awkwardly- I mean really, it doesn't matter if you slip out with your ass facing them or your crotch, there's no polite way to infringe on someone's personal space like that). Still, she liked the view as they took off and landed; she always loved flying.

After boarding everyone, and hearing the captain's instructions (which she'd heard several times before), the plane finally ascended. Rachel tried not to look like a child as she craned her neck past Gar to see out of the window. She heard Gar chuckle and instantly she regretted trying to look out the window. She glowered at him, but he didn't seem to notice. He then pulled from his pocket the warm cinnamon roll she had smelled earlier and handed it to her. He then slipped on his headphones and ignored her. Rachel was happy for the cinnamon roll and began eating it greedily. She would've thanked him, but he didn't remove his headphones or acknowledge her in anyway, and well, she wasn't one to go out of her way to do anything. _So I have to spend this entire flight alone, huh? _She_ refused _to complain or ask him to talk to her, but instead she accepted the fact that this was going to be a _long _flight.

* * *

**Hope you all liked it! The next chapter should be up soon! Please continue to review! I love reviews! :P**

**Thank you NCISLOVER for your correction, I changed it :)**

**~RukiaRae**


	5. Author's Note

**Hey everyone,**

**Sorry to put this story on hiatus for a while, but my life just got really complicated in the span of one night. Apparently my sister was involved in a drug deal and my parents are getting divorced and I'm just completely lost...**

**I will write some and I won't abandon my stories, but I'm sorry to say, I _do_ need some time to deal with all of this. I'm sorry this is so abrupt, but I was just told all of this myself...**

**I'm really sorry,**

**~RukiaRae**


	6. Another Author's Note

**Hey guys! **

******First off I want to say thank-you so much to BG-13, DarkAngel2098, DeadlyRedAlice, ILuvFlinx, MiriZen, FelynxTiger, GuyFawkes522, Hope Is A Feather, Thymistacles, RobRae4Ever, dcandthebirds112446, Prowlersgirl, and Kimberly renee Manley for the kind words, they really really helped!**

******Things are still far from perfect, but they're getting back to normal...sort of. My parents decided to go to counseling to work out their problems and they're still working on what to do with my sister. The good thing is there wasn't enough evidence to get the authorities involved...So things are patching back together and I've gotten around to writing again :) yay**

******However, I will be gone this weekend for a family reunion and the following week I'm visiting one of my friends from Virginia. I haven't seen her in years, so I'm really excited. And then I start college almost right after that. So basically, I don't know when I'll be able to update next...but when I do, it will be multiple chapters for each story...so yeah**

******Once again, thanks everyone on fanfiction for the condolences and sticking with my stories! **

**~RukiaRae**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long to update this story! I really have no excuse...I kinda just procrastinated doing the research for this (on the brazilian cities and the distance between them and all that) and started other stories heh *anime sweat drop* ...sorry guys...Anyways, hope the chapter was worth the wait!**

**Chapter 5 **

Rachel was annoyed. She had spent six hours of the flight alone, reading from her manuscript, but the print was starting to give her a headache. She closed her manuscript and looked over at Gar. He was sound asleep with his headphones blaring out Sum 41. A band she actually liked.

She put her manuscript in her bag and tried to remove Gar's headphones to listen to the song herself. She deftly took them from his ears and placed them on hers. She had never purchased an iPod, she always believed that she wouldn't use it. When exercising, the ear buds fell out. And music wasn't helpful when reading, plus she had a stereo system installed in her house. So she saw no real need for one.

She let the familiar melody of 'Pieces' wash over her. For a moment, she thought she might actually fall asleep (it was difficult for her to sleep on planes, despite her extensive travel), but as soon as the song ended, she was jolted awake again.

Gar was giving her a strange look. Rachel took off the headphones and returned them to Gar's outstretched hand, but her voice faltered as she tried to explain, "Uh- I, um, heard a song that I, um, liked…"

"If you could hear the song, why did you take my headphones?"

"B-because, I wanted to hear it better." She sighed. _At least he didn't ask-_

"What song?"

"Hmm?" she asked, absentmindedly. She _really_ hated admitting that she liked anything he did. Plus, the song in itself wasn't one that someone like her should be listening to. It was full of emotion, something she clearly should have despised. This was another reason she avoided buying an iPod or lots of CDs, she knew people were categorized by what they listened to, and she refused to be categorized as a romantic sap.

"You heard," he prompted.

"Pieces by Sum 41," she reluctantly admitted. She was unable to keep the twinge of red that infiltrated her cheeks.

"Good song," replied Gar, turning off his iPod. _I can't believe that's the song she'd choose to listen to _he mentally added. He never pegged her as one who listened to Sum 41.

She was somewhat surprised that's all he had to say about the song she listened to. Now she felt like an idiot for making a big deal of it. She let out a sigh and leaned back.

"Something wrong?" asked Gar, his gaze softening momentarily.

"Just thinking about the other 12 hours of the flight," she lied. She knew it was a poor lie, but still. Spilling her thoughts just wasn't her thing.

Gar, of course, knew it was a lie. He turned away from her to stare despondently out the window. He didn't know why, but he felt his heart clench when she lied to him just now. He felt hurt that she didn't trust him with the truth.

Rachel noticed Gar turn away from her. _Good going, Roth _she thought, _Why is it that I never say the right thing around people? That no one likes talking to me? _She felt tears sting at her eyes, threatening to fall. _Traitors _she thought as she got up and dashed to the nearest bathroom.

She was glad that she had kept the aisle seat and that Gar hadn't witnessed her sudden lack of control. Inside the tight bathroom stall, she calmed herself with deep breaths, reminding herself that she didn't care what others thought and that she preferred to be alone. For some reason, these words no longer helped.

Once she finished composing herself, she made her way back to her seat. She then found the complimentary set of headsets and began scrolling through the movies they were showing.

Eventually she settled on '_The Invention of Lying_.' It was funny and it wasn't romantic. Or so she'd thought until the film reached the chapel scene where Mark and Anna eventually decided to get married. She groaned, earning a questioning glance from Gar.

Rachel chose not to acknowledge him, she was fairly sure that the conversation would take a similar turn as before. And then she'd have to go to the bathroom to compose herself again, causing Gar to be suspicious.

Contrary to what she called him on a daily basis, she knew he wasn't a _complete_ idiot. There were some things he could figure out. She just hoped that he wouldn't figure out that her uncaring façade was a wall meant to protect her; that behind the wall was a girl like any other who _did_ long to be with someone who loved her. Despite her assurances that she liked being alone, she sometimes wished she had someone to share her life with. She wanted to _be_ wanted, and she felt pathetic for it.

She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, unwilling to talk to Gar at the moment. And she still had about 10 hours of flight time left with him. At least when she got there she could go to her hotel and sleep. Because they were landing in Altamira, they were staying the night. The next day they had a six hour drive to Santarem, which Rachel had recently learned was practically on the Amazon River. Needless to say, she wasn't looking forward to getting there. She just hoped Gar had the foresight to hire a driver to take them because she _refused _to drive the entire time (and she knew Gar wasn't functional in the mornings).

Of course, she still had yet to ask about the rest of the travel plans. She figured she'd ask him when they got there. She looked over at him to find him sleeping again. _Men. _

She decided it was time she got back to reading her manuscript and she reached into her bag to fish it out. But instead, she pulled out the packet of questions. Not what she was hoping for, but she decided to go through them all the same. Looking through them, she decided to circle all the ones she didn't know about Gar.

As she began flipping through the packet, she found that she had to circle almost all of the questions. Except for favorite color, which she was sure was green. Almost sure. Kind of sure. Okay, so it was a guess, but it _seemed_ right. She sighed, she had never thought about these questions when talking to Gar. What _was _his favorite food? Or his first girlfriend's name? And how did he know all of this about her?

_We apologize for the delay in meal service, but for the safety of the crew we were unable to pass out the meals due to severe turbulence. It appears that the turbulence has subsided, so the flight attendants will soon pass around with lunch options for everyone. Once again, we apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience._

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked over at Gar's watch (she never wore one). It was 2 in the afternoon and she was _starving _all because a few bumps qualified as 'severe turbulence.' Really? Seeing the flight attendants on their way with the carts of food and drinks, she decided to give up and allowed the packet to fall on the floor. With Gar asleep, she wasn't going to get any answers anyway. And she wanted to _enjoy _her lunch. When the attendant reached her, she opted for the chicken sandwich with a diet coke. She ordered a sprite and tofu salad for Gar.

She looked over at her assistant to find him sound asleep. She was unable to surpress her slight chuckle when she saw the small amount of drool that managed to escape his mouth. She nudged him awake and handed him his plastic container with salad along with the plastic utensils he'd need to eat. She could see his eyes were still glazed over, indicating that he still wasn't completely awake yet, so she decided to leave his drink on her tray for the time being. When he did finally wake up, he began munching his salad.

"Hey, you remembered I'm a vegetarian," he commented.

She just shrugged, "So?"

He shrugged back in response, "Well at the last corporate lunch, you didn't remember."

She replied, "It's a little late for comments, don't you think?"

She, of course, remembered the incident he was referring to. She hadn't forgotten that he was a vegetarian, but he was the only one in the office who was, so she'd figured he could suck it up for a day. Or just scrape it off. Or just eat a bunch of appetizers. However, she (correctly) guessed that it wouldn't be smart to tell Gar this, so she deflected with sarcasm (as per usual). So she finished her soggy sandwich in silence. By the time she was finished, she looked over to see that Gar had finished his salad too. After several moments of _really _awkward silence, Gar broke the silence by standing up and saying, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Rachel figured as much (after all, where else was there to go?). She twisted herself so that her legs were facing sideways, giving Gar more leg space to scoot past her. While he was on his way to the aisle, the turbulence reappeared. It knocked him off his balance and he toppled forward- right onto Rachel. She was definitely not expecting that to happen, and she could feel that her muscles, reflexively, became tight and rigid. His head was, thankfully turned to the side- _oh wait nevermind. _Rachel was extremely conscious that he was now mere centimeters from her face and she could feel her face heating up.

He was also shocked by stumbling right on her. He turned his head, trying to get his bearings, only to come face-to-face with Rachel. After a moment of sitting there, registering what was going on, he quickly propelled himself off of her and quickly left for the bathroom. Despite the fact that he was sure that she'd kill him when he got back, he couldn't help but notice the flush of crimson that had stained her cheeks. And he found it just a _little, _well, ...cute.

She was glad that he left for the bathroom quickly, it gave her time to compose her thoughts. This was something she found herself doing more often than usual as of late. She couldn't account for why she had reacted the way she did. Despite the fact that she gave no indication with her tense posture, she _almost _didn't mind. But, she reminded herself, she couldn't and didn't like Gar. Not like _that. _He was way too immature and-

Her train of thought was cut off as she noticed he'd returned from the lavatory. She briskly stood up and entered the aisle, allowing him to pass through the empty seats (ensuring that the same scenario didn't play out again- she was fairly sure that if she hadn't gotten up, with her luck, the same thing _would've _happened again). She then sat down again and noticed, to her great dismay, that she was now acutely aware of his presence near her. And the fact that it had an impact on her made her _very _nervous.

Eventually, several films, several hundred pages of her manuscript, and several attempts at sleep later, the captain announced the descent of the plane. Rachel always hated this part of the flight, except not as much today (she needed to put some space between her and Gar, and so far, the plane just wasn't cutting it). She closed her eyes and prepared for the landing.

It felt like her stomach was dropping and each time the plane turned to the side, she felt a bit queasy. She couldn't even enjoy the view now that the plane flew below the clouds because she was so anxious to land. Twenty minutes later, Rachel opened her clenched eyes when she felt the tires of the plane bounce on the pavement below. The plane then solidly landed on the ground and was coming to an abrupt stop.

_We ask that you please remain seated with your seat belts fastened until we reach the gate. Any portable electronics may now be turned on. We ask that you do not use computers at this time. The local time here is about 1 in the afternoon. For those of you with connecting flights, there will be someone to direct you to your connections at the gate. We thank-you for choosing American Airlines and hope to see you on future flights with us. _

Rachel ignored the fake, peppy, voice that oozed from the speakers and undid her seat belt. She _refused _to sit and wait while everyone else quickly got up and took their time getting off the aircraft. She wanted to get off the plane, and if anything, she would be the one taking her time to do so. But she wouldn't be held up by the other, incompetent passengers. Besides, she needed to strech her legs after 18 hours of flying.

* * *

It wasn't long before they reached their hotel for the night in Altamira. It wasn't five star or anything, but it could've been worse. Rachel noticed, to her great relief, that there were two full beds side by side. She let out a sigh that she didn't realize she had been holding. She then made her way to the bed farthest from the window. If there were any bugs, they'd come in through the windows, and she _hated _bugs. With a passion. She collapsed on her bed before she could even change into her pajamas and fell into a deep slumber.

Gar, meanwhile, had enough energy to properly get ready for bed. He changed into his pajama pants, and since it was so muggy and humid out, he decided to sleep without a shirt on. Soon after he crawled into bed, he too fell into a deep sleep. Neither of them had remembered to turn out the room light.

Rachel awoke and looked over at the hotel clock, which read 10. Rachel deduced that it was 10 at night because, she could see through a crack in the drapes covering the window, that it was very dark out. Rachel heard her stomach growl and groaned, why now? She didn't know _anything _about Brazil and certainly didn't want to leave the hotel. She hoped that room service was still open. She stealthily approached the hotel phone, not wanting to wake up Gar (things were already awkward enough and she certainly didn't want to be stuck making small talk with him). She cast a glance at his sleeping form, only to notice that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

This realization made Rachel blush from embarrassment. _Ugh, pull yourself together. _She quickly diverted her attention and picked up the hotel phone, dialing 0 to reach the front desk.

_"Hello, how may we be of service?" _asked the woman at the front desk.

"Hi, yes, I would like to know if room service is still available?" Rachel asked politely. She didn't notice Gar stir when she spoke.

_"Yes, room service is available until 11:30. Just dial 1."_

"Great, thanks," replied Rachel, hanging up the phone. She then picked it up again, this time dialing 1 as she was instructed.

"Hi, I would like an order of the mozzarella cheese sticks and the chicken salad with a diet coke please."

_"What room number?" _

"334," answered Rachel.

_"Should be up in about 20 minutes."_

She replied with her standard, "Great, thanks." Then she hung up the phone.

Twenty minutes was the perfect amount of time for a shower, which she desperately needed. She felt grimy after spending around 20 hours on a plane and navigating through airports. She fished her pajamas out of her suitcase and pulled out her plastic ziploc bag with her shampoos. For once, she was glad that the airport forced passengers to place their liquids into a plastic bag, now she had everything she needed without having to search the entire contents of her suitcase for it.

Having all of her items gathered, she quickly made her way to the bathroom and locked the door. She put her shampoo and body wash into the shower and then started the water, setting it to a very warm temperature. Rachel could feel her muscles relaxing in the warm water and she let out a content sigh.

In the meantime, Gar decided that it was safe to get up. He had woken up sometime when Rachel was on the phone, but he didn't want to call attention to it. He really didn't want to talk to her, not after what happened on the plane. After scrolling through a bunch of local channels, where Spanish and Portugese were the only languages spoken, he heard a knock at the door. Rachel was still in her bathroom, so he decided to answer the door himself.

"Room service," answered the attractive, blonde woman at the door. She then dropped off a tray of food and briskly left, throwing one last smile at Gar. Gar looked through the items ordered and found that the only vegetarian thing was the mozzarella sticks, and starving as he was, he ate them. As he shoved the last one into his mouth, Rachel exited the bathroom. In pajamas. A sight he never thought he'd see.

He never could picture Rachel relaxing, not that he really tried, but it just seemed so out of character for her. And he never thought that her pajamas would look so much like relaxation items. He didn't know what he pictured Rachel wearing to bed, but the silky black pants and purple tank top was not it. The worst part of it was, that it _actually _looked good on her. He found that he had to remind himself that she was a _demon, _ which was a fact that he never thought he'd forget. But with the day they'd had, he _almost _considered her human. Then she _had _to open her mouth.

"What happened to my mozzarella sticks?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I, uh, ate them...I was hungry," he replied hesitantly.

"So why didn't you order food for yourself? Surely you know how," she snapped.

"_Because_, it would've taken twenty minutes for me to get mine while yours were just sitting there, getting cold," he answered, an edge to his voice as well.

Rachel just rolled her eyes and began eating her chicken salad. And while she was still angry about her mozzarella sticks, she was also happy that their dynamic had returned to normal. She just chalked up the awkward experiences of the day to fatigue. She also made a mental note to avoid Gar when she was fatigued, no need to cause irreparable damage.

As soon as she finished her meal, Rachel slid back into her bed and tried to fall asleep. But she was restless having spent 9 hours asleep already. Still, she decided to lay there in bed until she was finally claimed by sleep. She was going to have to drive 6 hours with Gar the next day. She remembered that she forgot to ask if they had a driver...but she was fast asleep before she had the chance to ask.

* * *

**Okay so basically with this chapter I wanted to show that Gar and Rachel's relationship is changing, though they aren't completely aware of why. I also wanted to humanize Rachel a bit and make her a bit more likeable. I hope this wasn't too rushed or drastic.**

**Let me know what you guys think!**

**~RukiaRae**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I know it's been forever, please don't kill me! I've had a bunch of tests and midterms lately and I've mostly been studying...So I finally thought about how I wanted this chapter to go and I hope you all like it! Also, I'd like to point out that I've never traveled outside of the United States (though I really reallly want to) so my knowledge of Brazil is very limited. Also, I can speak Spanish but not Portuguese so when they speak in a foreign language, it might be Spanish. Sorry for all of the inaccuracies, but it can't really be helped. If you've ever been to Brazil, especially in/near the Amazon, then please, please, please PM me with information about it so I can make my story better! Thanks :)**

**And now,**

**Chapter 6!**

When Rachel awoke to the early hotel wake up call, she was needless to say, not happy. She rolled out of bed rather ungracefully as tiredness still clouded her mind. Gar was no better, he was definitely not suited for the mornings. He stumbled to the bathroom and was barely coherent enough to shower and complete his morning routine. Rachel, on the other hand left to work out while Gar showered. She needed to work out in the mornings to wake herself returning from the workout room at the hotel was feeling awake and refreshed. She quickly showered after Gar and finished long before Gar.

"What are you, a girl?" she snapped at Gar after she finished, "I'm already ready so hurry up."

Gar just grunted in response before quickly getting dressed and packing up his stuff. When Gar was finally ready, he and Rachel headed down to the hotel lobby to check out and rent a car.

"Did you hire a driver?" Rachel asked, a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Um….no?" squeaked Gar.

"Well then, you're driving," replied Rachel, handing Gar the keys with a satisfied smirk.

"What? But I wanted to sleep," whined Gar, but he instantly stopped after seeing Rachel's cold glare sent his way.

He sighed as he slipped into the driver's seat once they'd located their silver Subaru. _It's only 6 hours, you can do this _he reminded himself, but he wasn't so sure. He had to spend 6 hours in a confined space with the demon and he couldn't sleep and ignore her.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Rachel, annoyance apparent in her voice.

"Nothing, you ready to go?"

She rolled her eyes, "I've been ready for the past hour. Hurry up, its already 10, we're losing daylight."

Gar sighed and started the car, plugging in his iPod to listen to. He decided to play Sum 41 since he knew Rachel liked their music.

"Ugh, I'm tired. Do I have to listen to this crap for 6 hours?" she asked.

Gar just looked at her with confusion evident on his face, "What? Crap?"

Rachel rolled her eyes again, "I'm pretty sure you have ears, so use them you dope. But whatever, I'm sleeping so it shouldn't be an issue."

Gar growled, _what's with her? _He was at least thankful that she was going to sleep, it saved him from having to deal with her the entire way there. Gar allowed himself to relax and listen to his music. Unknown to him was that Rachel was, in fact, still awake. She hadn't been able to sleep in a car. Ever. Normally, she would've driven, but considering Gar failed she figured he ought to drive so that next time he wouldn't forget.

Besides, she enjoyed listening to his music, though she would die before admitting it. He had a surprisingly good taste in music. So she laid there, facing the passenger side window, soaking up the view of Brazil and enjoying Gar's music.

She sighed, "I'm awake, so if you want to switch off driving, now would be the time to do it."

Gar looked over at her with a grin, "Really?"

Rachel snorted, "No, not really. I lied. And before you ask, yes that's sarcasm."

Gar beamed "Okay, I'll pull over to the side of the road and we can switch."

Rachel nodded.

Now she had been driving for 3 hours and wondering why she ever volunteered to switch with the little grass stain. She looked over at him with a scowl, but a small smile crept on her face when she saw his sleeping form. He looked like a small child.

When she realized the smile, she instantly corrected it with her usual frown and hit Gar on the shoulder.

"Ow," he grumbled.

"Wake up, it's your turn now," informed Rachel.

"Just a little longer," mumbled Gar groggily.

"Are you kidding me? It's been 3 hours, wake up you snot."

"Whaa-?" asked Gar before having his head banged on the passenger window.

Rachel then slowed to a stop at the side of the road.

"You're an awful driver," groaned Gar.

"All the more reason for you to drive."

Gar growled but stopped objecting, and just switched places with Rachel. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard, which read 1:17.

Gar sighed, he knew that he'd be the one driving the rest of the way. It wasn't until then, however, that Gar realized how hungry he was. He pulled off an exit that said there was a McDonalds. He knew it wasn't healthy, but it was the only available option at the moment.

"Hey, Ravieeee," he sung, not expecting her to even be awake.

"Call me that again, and I swear I murder you in your sleep," she snapped.

"Heh," laughed Gar nervously, "Sorry. So, um, do you want anything while we're here?"

"Sure, I'll have a big mac and fries and a diet coke," she said.

"Dude, that's meat! You're kill-"

"Save it and tell that to someone who cares. In the meantime, that's what I want," interrupted Rachel, "You're free to order what you want, as am I."

Gar grunted before placing her order as well as his. He just got the Asian salad without the chicken. It was times like these that Gar was thankful that his parents forced him to learn basic Portuguese. Rachel just looked at him from her peripheral vision.

"What we're you saying, it sounded like messed up Spanish," said Rachel.

"It was Portuguese," replied Gar tersely, "Here's your food."

Rachel nodded, taking the bag with the contents of her meal.

She took out her hamburger and began eating. It didn't taste quite like the ones she'd had in America, but it was sufficient. It wasn't long before she was finished with her meal. She then looked over to see Gar struggling to eat his salad while driving.

Unable to stop herself, she chuckled at the sight, "And that is why you shouldn't be vegetarian."

Rachel then took the salad bowl from his lap, "Okay, so every little while, look over and I'll give you a bite of salad."

"Dude, you're helping me?" Gar asked, confused.

"I hate that word, dude, you know that. And besides, I won't be able to sleep if your stomach keeps grumbling like that," she snapped.

Gar rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever. Bite."

Rachel rolled her eyes in response before feeding him a bite of his salad. The car ride proceeded like that until Gar finally finished his Asian salad. Rachel then shoved the plastic container into the McDonalds bag and rolled over, once again pretending to sleep.

Finally, at around 4:30, Gar felt like jumping for joy. They had arrived in Santarem. Gar quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed his mother's number.

"Hey, mom."

"Yeah, we're almost there. About 15 minutes away."

"Mkay, bye mom."

Gar then hung up his cell phone and proceeded to drive to another hotel in the area. There he planned on dropping off the rented vehicle and meeting his family in the hotel lobby.

When they finally reached the hotel, Gar quickly turned in the car and paid. He then bounded to the elevator, excited to see his parents for the first time in several years. Rachel felt a twinge of guilt at taking away all of his break time. She then began to worry, surely the family wouldn't forgive that so easily. Not to mention, they already tried to convince Gar to quit his job whenever they got the chance, chances were they'd try to convince him to leave her. And he really didn't have much to lose if he came clean, especially if he said that she blackmailed him.

She sighed, this was going to be a more difficult week than she'd thought. She would have to keep a vigilant watch over Gar to ensure that he didn't slip away from their deal, because if he did, she was done for.

When they stepped off of the elevator, Gar ran to his family. Assembled were his mother and grandmother, along with his little sister. They all crowded around him, making a scene but it made her smile slightly. Rachel felt a pang in her heart, this was the one thing she'd never had. She'd never been part of a functional family or had love. Rachel tore her gaze from the reunited family and set about getting all of her luggage into a small pile. Finally, Gar had the courtesy to introduce her.

"Mom, Grandma, Jillian, this is Rachel," he quickly mentioned, before grabbing his luggage.

"Rachel? Really? Because I've heard it pronounced Satan before," stated Gar's grandmother, loudly.

"She's just _lovely_," snapped Rachel. Gar rolled his eyes and turned to walk with his family.

"Aren't you going to help her with her bags, honey?" asked Gar's mother.

"Nah, she likes handling things by herself. Kinda controlling," he answered before calling out, "Let's go sweetie, hurry up."

Rachel shot him a nasty glare after his family turned around before struggling to haul her things out the hotel door. Finally, a tall, handsome man with messy, carrot colored hair and vivid green eyes helped. He wore a hotel uniform, and Rachel could see that his nametag read 'Roy'. He helped her lug her bags out to the car where Gar and his family were waiting.

Gar saw Rachel smile at Roy and instantly felt his blood begin to boil.

"I told you she probably needed help with her things," mentioned Mrs. Logan.

Gar angrily took some of her suitcases and began stuffing them in the trunk.

"Thank-you Roy," said Rachel, doing well at hiding her infatuation.

Roy replied with, "No problem. Maybe I'll see you around." He then disappeared back inside the hotel.

Gar just scowled at her.

"What? He was just helping," she snapped, "Maybe if _someone _had helped. Besides, I don't know what's got your panties in a bunch."

Gar just glowered before getting in the car. Rachel sighed, _why does he care? _

When she finished loading her bags, she joined the rest of the family in the car. The then took off to the research facilities that his parents lived in. On the way there, Rachel looked at Jillian's face and Gar's face since they were now side by side. They really looked incredibly alike, it was eerie. Jillian's hair was a bit darker than Gar's, it was a sandy blonde. Her hair fell halfway down her back. She seemed to be always smiling and texting on her cellphone. She appeared to be a few years younger than Gar. But her outgoing personality closely resembled that of her older brother.

Rachel then turned to look out the window for the rest of the ride to the research facilities. When they finally arrived, Rachel was relieved. The long day of driving had worn her out. After Gar's family poured out of the car, Rachel went to the trunk to retrieve her things.

"Don't worry about it, we got it. Just go inside," said Jillian affably. Rachel had a feeling they'd get along well. For some reason, Jillian didn't piss her off like Gar did, despite their similar personalities.

Rachel nodded, "Thanks."

She then followed Gar to his parent's 'home', trying not to let her incredibly high heels get stuck in the swampy area. Gar just laughed, "Come on, I'm not getting any younger here."

Rachel just rolled her eyes before following Gar inside. The house was sparsely decorated and was immaculately clean. Rachel immediately removed her shoes when stepping into the first room. Gar then lead her to the living room, passing through a series of air-tight automatic doors. The living room was as simple of the rest of the house. A crescent shaped couch decorated the center of the room and faced a rather large television. Rachel was about to comment, but then noticed all of the people milling about the living room.

Gar groaned, "Looks like my parents decided to throw a welcome home party."

"Oh," replied Rachel, also not happy about the party. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Here, let me introduce you to everyone," grumbled Gar.

Soon, Rachel was introduced to several people, and she had to rely on her non-existent conversation skills to make it through. Though, the people seemed to like her well enough. Well, all except Gar's father. Like Gar's mother, he had dark brown hair that was graying from age. Unlike Gar's mother, his features were rough and uninviting. His whole demeanor was incredibly serious and he was one of the few people that intimidated Rachel.

"H-hello, Mr. Logan," stammered Rachel.

He narrowed his eyes at her before turning his attention to Gar. Before he could begin to lecture Gar, however, another couple made their way to Gar for the introductions.

"Kori, Dick, this is Rachel. Rachel, Richard was one of my best friends since Kindergarden. So was Kori. They're getting married in a few months."

"Friend Rachel, I have been dying to know, what does an editor do?" She asked, earnest for an answer.

"Good question, Kori. We've all been wondering that. Gar seems to only get coffee and plan schedules," commented Mr. Logan, bitterly.

"Not now, dad."

"Now's the only time I'll get to see you to ask."

"Can I talk to you in private?" asked Gar tensely.

As they strolled off, Rachel stayed behind to talk to Richard and Kori. She didn't want to know what Gar and his dad were talking about. During the short conversation they had, Rachel found out that Kori was actually born in France and only recently learned English. This accounted for her accent and weird way of speaking. It also didn't take long for Rachel to find out that Kori could give a death hug like none other.

After a bit more conversation, Rachel saw a blonde girl bounce over to Garfield, hugging him for longer than most everyone else had. Rachel watched with a keen interest, "Who's that?" she asked Kori, trying to look nonchalant.

"Oh, that is friend Tara. She and Garfield used to do the dating."

"Oh," mumbled Rachel, trying not to show her insecurities.

Tara was a lot prettier than she was, with her lovely, long blonde hair and outgoing personality. She didn't have the personal issues that Rachel herself had and Tara was well known among the people there. Rachel felt her self confidence taking more of a nose dive the more she thought about how good Tara and Gar seemed to be together.

She sighed, barely noticing when Gar left Tara's side. So wrapped up was she in her mental pity party that she barely heard the clang of the knife hitting a champagne glass, indicating an announcement.

She then heard Gar's voice ring out, "Everyone, I have an announcement. Rachel and I are engaged."

Gar then looked around before calling out, "Rachel, hon, where are you?"

Rachel slowly peeked around the corner to see everyone waiting for her. She took a deep breath before walking out to stand beside Gar. As soon as she did, everyone cheered. Well everyone except Gar's father.

And although Tara was clapping, she glared at Rachel. And the fact that Tara was jealous of her made Rachel feel a bit better, though she was still worried that Gar would like Tara more.

Still, she tried her best to look happy and in love. She smiled gracefully.

Then, Tara called out, "Let's see a kiss!" causing a chant of "Kiss her!" to ring throughout the room. Rachel shot a glance at Gar to gauge his reaction, but part of her really wanted to kiss Gar to shock Tara into silence. She looked at Tara before turing to Gar and pulling him into a long kiss. After he recovered from the shock, he also awkwardly responded to the kiss, but it was enough to convince the others, who instantly began cheering again. When they eventually broke apart, Rachel quickly turned away from Gar, not allowing herself to contemplate on what she'd done. Instead, she looked at Tara to see her reaction, and as predicted, she looked pissed. _Yes! Ha, you lose Tara _thought Rachel.

"What was that?" whispered Gar. No one else heard over the cheering and talking.

"Acting," replied Rachel, also in a whisper. But she avoided his gaze. _What did I just do?_

Rachel then went about talking to the people in the crowd she'd met, enduring their constant congratulations. Rachel wasn't expecting Gar to bring it up so soon, but she hated that he had. The only positive to that would be that Tara would finally back off.

_Wait, he's not actually yours. Pull yourself together, Roth._

She groaned, she definitely shouldn't be having a glass of champagne at the moment. It was clear that her judgement was already hazy, so she placed her glass on the dining room table before returning to the group.

Rachel then felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, who knew I'd see you again so soon?"

Rachel turned around to see Roy. She smiled, "Hey!" and hugged him.

This time, Gar caught the scene. _Dammit Roy! _

Roy Harper had also been one of his childhood friends, but Gar knew that Roy was definitely a player. He moved on from girl to girl in no time. And for once, Gar was worried that Rachel might actually be the one hurt. He sighed_. _He refused to think of why he was intervening, but instead just interrupted their conversation.

"Hey, Roy, it's been a while," Gar said.

"Yea, man, you too," replied Roy, "Be right back Rachel."

Gar sent a questioning glance at Rachel, but she ignored him.

Gar sighed, "Just be careful, he has a reputation Rae."

Rachel scowled, "I can take care of myself, thanks."

"Right," mumbled Gar, "I hope so."

Rachel just stormed past him, trying to appear as good natured as ever. Then she was asked the dreaded question.

"So how did he propose?" asked Gar's mother.

"Huh?" was Rachel's articulate reply.

"Everyone has a proposal story, let's hear it!"

Rachel let a small, evil grin spread across her face. _Oh, so many options, what to say to them? _

"Okay so..." began Rachel.

* * *

**Once again, I'm sorry this took so long to write! And sorry if it's a bit shorter than the other chapters...but I hope you all liked it! Please review if you get the chance! Thanks for reading! :D**

**~RukiaRae **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Okay so I have this idea that I'm testing out...I'm thinking about updating with shorter chapters (this one is about a third of the usual length) so that I can update more often...It does mean that, however, when you do get updates there won't be as much going on and I don't know how you all feel about that...So here is a chapter that will kind of model my future chapters if I decide to do this...please late me know (either by PMing me or through a review) what you think I should do/what you'd prefer!**

**And Now,**

**Chapter 7!**

Rachel took in a deep breath, trying to quickly think of a story to tell. She noticed that his mother, Maria's, stormy blue eyes focused completely on her, waiting eagerly for the story. As if her interest wasn't bad enough, the rest of the room seemed to hear the question as well and quieted down for the story. The only good thing about this was Tara would hear the whole thing. Rachel smiled and began her story.

"Well, it was about 6 months ago. We had gotten back from a _really _romantic date," Rachel emphasized really, and noted (much to her satisfaction) that Tara narrowed her eyes, "and in his messy room, I found this _adorable _hand-made box. It was decorated with all of these pictures of him and inside were these hand cut heart-shaped confetti that just fluttered out when I opened the box."

This earned several "awws" from most of the women and sniggers from Gar's guy friends.

"When I finally took out the confetti, I saw this HUGE-"

"Big fat nothing. No ring," interjected Gar, having entered the room and figured out what was going on in time to salvage some of his dignity. After his interjection, however, Gar could tell Rachel wanted to strangle him, the look she gave him, while mild in comparison to some of the ones he'd gotten before (considering there was an image to uphold), but he could just _tell _that she wanted to kill him.

But Gar continued anyway, he'd deal with Rachel later.

"No, in fact, inside was a piece of paper with a date and time written on it. Very manly," clarified Gar, earning nods from some of the guys in the room.

"Naturally," interrupted Rachel, "I thought he was cheating on me. It was a really hard time for me."

Gar just gave her a confused look, _now what are you up to? _he wondered.

Ignoring Gar, she continued, "I actually broke up with him, telling him that I didn't think he was in it for the long run. But then, I got a call from Gar and he told me to meet him at my favorite café. He was choking back soft sobs as he told me that he couldn't stop thinking of me."

Gar looked mortified and interjected, "There were no sobs. No sobbing."

But everyone seemed enraptured by Rachel's story and barely paid attention to his comment.

She continued, "So I arrived and it was Karaoke Monday. I looked around, but I didn't see Gar and I thought that he forgot. I was so depressed until I heard them announce the name 'Garfield' over the microphone. Sure enough, I looked up to see my Gar belting out Bryan Adams' _Everything I do (I Do It For You)_ and I was in shock. Mind you, he wasn't very good, but it was _so _sweet. Afterwards, in front of the entire café, he kneeled and-"

"I asked her to marry me, she said yes, the end," finished Gar before she could embellish the story further.

Rachel just looked at Gar and shot him a sickly sweet smile and Gar could see the malice in her eyes. _Just you wait, Rachel, I'll get you back for this._

The audience that had gathered around for the story began cheering.

"That was some story," commented Maria. Maria then turned and asked, "Hey Tara, would you mind taking this back to the kitchen for me? Thanks, you're a sweetheart."

By then everyone had gone back to mingling as before and didn't hear Rachel stopped Tara on her way to the kitchen.

"Hey, Tara is it?, would you mind taking this too?" asked Rachel with a fake smile while handing Tara a champagne glass, "Thank-you, you're _such _a sweetheart."

Tara glowered at Rachel but took the glass anyway. Rachel smiled to herself in satisfaction. She then shook her head, _Good god, why am I acting like this? _She thought to herself. She definitely needed to control her emotions better. Rachel sighed, desperately wishing she could slip away from the party to meditate.

Then Tara returned, carrying a beer and offered it to Rachel, "I think they're out of champagne."

"No thanks, I'm good," replied Rachel, shocked that Tara was being so nice.

"You look like you could use it, trust me," encouraged Tara, handing Rachel the open beer.

"Thanks, I guess," responded Rachel.

After Tara left, Rachel looked at the bottle and began to regret trying to piss Tara off. She seemed to be nice, so why couldn't Rachel be nice to her? Rachel decided that she'd stop trying to provoke Tara and began sipping the beer. She should've known ,however, that something wasn't right when Tara said "trust me".

Unknown to Rachel, Tara walked away with a grin on her face. _Revenge is sweet. _Tara could tell by Rachel's uptight demeanor that Rachel wasn't an alcohol drinker. On the other hand, Tara knew from experience as a bartender that mixing different kinds of alcohols would get a person drunk faster.

And considering Rachel wasn't a heavy drinker, her body wouldn't be able to tolerate much before she became completely intoxicated. Tara smiled, wondering just how long it would take for Rachel to make an ass out of herself.

* * *

**Did you all like it? Should I just post several mini chapters or would you rather wait for the typical, long chapters? Let me know!**

**Thanks!**

**~RukiaRae**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! Okay so I've concluded that the short chapters just really aren't going to work, which most of you were fine with anyway. I'll continue to do the long chapters, however, during my winter break I'll have to make time to see my friends so chapters might be a bit shorter than usual during that time (probably around 2,000 words instead of 3,000, so it's not too bad)...**

**If you read any of my other stories then you already know this, but I recently caught a nasty case of bronchitis and my computer also broke down, causing many delays in updating all of my stories, so I'm sorry about that, but I'm feeling much better now and I'm armed with a newly fixed computer so everything should go fine until finals :)**

******Also, special thanks to Titan Negro for helping me with some details about Brazil that will appear in the chapter I'm currently working on!**  


**And now I present the next chapter! Enjoy!**

**~RukiaRae**

Last Chapter:

Tara smiled, wondering just how long it would take for Rachel to make an ass out of herself.

**Chapter 11!**

Sure enough, it really hadn't taken Rachel that long for her to get drunk. Gar noticed something was up when she almost lost her balance several times, so he led her over to a couch in the family room. In retrospect, this wasn't really a great idea. Not only was Rachel going to kill him for letting his family see her like so (if she remembered), but also his family didn't take to kindly to their "alcoholic" daughter-in-law to be. Nevermind that she hadn't ever really drunk and, accidentally, had too much. His dad especially seemed pleased to find all the things wrong with her and latch on to them. Normally, Gar was the same way, but his father was just so...so..._annoying _that Gar found himself defending Rachel. Of course, it was all in the heat of the moment, from being provoked, and it didn't mean anything.

Furthermore, not only had it been stupid for those reasons, but also because of the secret they were trying to keep. It occurred to Gar that if he actually got her to say the secret, he'd be free of her. But then the threat of jail and fines dropped into his mind. _Crap. _Not to mention, Gar was looking forward to being promoted.

He groaned as his father, once again, began criticizing Rachel's personality. The rest of the party guests either migrated to the kitchen, or stayed in the room pretending to be oblivious to the conversation. Tara was one of the people who chose to hang around, eavesdropping sneakily on the conversation.

"People like her," he gestured to Rachel, who was now slumped over on the couch, "Don't give a damn about anyone else. How do you know that she really likes you, Garfield?"

Before Gar could jump in and answer, Rachel began to speak, well more like slur.

"I don't."

"What?" asked Gar's dad, astounded.

"I don't like...you," she struggled to find the words, her mind fogged by the alcohol.

"_Excuse me?"_ asked Gar's dad, Mark, in a low, dangerous voice.

Gar, however, breathed a sigh of relief. She, Gar guessed, had meant the comment for him, but everyone, thankfully, thought she was addressing his father. Sure enough, her next sentence proved that she was addressing Gar.

"I'm only here becau-,"she began, but Gar cut her off with a quick kiss, that she clearly had not been expecting, before she would reveal the deal.

Thankfully, his mother, Maria, had appeared at that moment and, seeing her son with his fiancee, jumped in.

"Yes, I think you both could do with a bit of rest. I have dessert in the kitchen, it's a new recipe. Try it and let me know what you think," she said, urging everyone into the kitchen.

Gar smiled at her, appreciating her calming presence on the gathering of people and for the distraction. However, just as Gar reached the stairs and was about to help her up to the second floor into the guest bedroom, Mark stepped before his son.

"I'd like a word with you," he stated, sternly.

Gar sighed, "I'm a little busy at the moment."

Then, instead of letting Gar pass, Mark called Roy.

Roy quickly found Mark, looking questioningly from Mark to Gar, each glaring at one another and refusing to back down.

"Can you take Rebecca up to the guest bedroom so I can talk to my son?" He asked tensely, never breaking the gaze from his son.

"It's Rachel, dad. Her name is Rachel," snarled Gar, his icy tone biting.

Gar's response shocked Roy. Gar and Roy had known each other since childhood, and not once, had Roy ever felt such coldness from Gar, even when he and his father had gotten in fights they had never fought this badly. Still, Roy walked over to Gar, and with Gar's help, finally was able to get Rachel into his arms, bridal style, before heading up the stairs.

* * *

Gar's gaze swept around his father's study, noticing how it hadn't really changed from when he'd been home last. Scientific books lined the wooden bookshelves behind his father's antique leather desk chair. The desk, as always, was littered with papers and glass slides that had been examined using the light microscope on the edge of the desk. His father's laptop sat atop a stack of open books. All in all, the office held the organized chaos Gar had come to expect from his father.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" snapped Gar, after a few moments of silence.

His father sighed, pinching the bridge of his skinny nose. This brought back many memories for Gar, his father had done this whenever he was stressed, pouring over research. Gar recalled how he and mom would work in the kitchen to make something to lift his dad's spirits. He would always waddle, carrying the plate of baked goods, into his father's office, holding them high above his head, almost as an offering to his father.

His dad would always take it, set the food aside, and pick Gar up, seating the small child on his lap. The older Gar got, the more he asked his father to explain what he was doing...Until 'the Accident' that is...

Gar pushed the sickening thought out of his mind, noticing his father's disposition. Mark had always been strong, but he was definitely showing sings of aging. Most of his onyx hair was graying, the wrinkles on his face were more defined, and his eyes no longer seemed to light up. Gar shoved this observation away too, he didn't like thinking about his father's deterioration. Gar's father finally began to speak, drawing Gar's attention.

"Look, you know your mother and I love you very much and want what's best for you, right?" he began, looking weary, trying to sidestep another argument.

But he was too late.

"Really? That's news to me," sneered Gar, rage building up inside him, "If you wanted what was best for me, then why are you trying to drive away my fiancee?"

"Gar, she's...not the one for you..." stated his father, softly, "There's no way that she can make you happy."

"Too bad, because she does," he replied.

"I know you, you're defiant and-"

Gar cut off his father before he could continue, "I LOVE HER DAD, SO ACCEPT IT BECAUSE SHE'S HERE TO STAY!"

After his outburst, Gar glimpsed the look of shock on his father's face and left the study, slamming the wooden door closed.

* * *

In the vacated living room, Gar sat on the couch, letting his head drop into his hands, mulling over what just happened.

Gar hadn't really thought much about the words that he'd just screamed at his father, but after replaying the fight in his head several times, he could only pay attention to his parting remark.

_"I LOVE HER DAD, SO ACCEPT IT BECAUSE SHE'S HERE TO STAY!"_

He had no idea where that outburst came from, because, well it was obvious that Rachel was a pain in his side ever since he'd accepted the job from her. He didn't love her, and he knew this, right?

Gar had never felt so confused. He groaned. Gar could hear his father approaching, so he quickly darted for the rooms, heading to the one with the name 'Garfield' engraved into the door.

Gar noticed two figures in the room, one of which he recognized was his mother.

"Mom?" he questioned.

"What are you doing in here?" questioned his mother, which sounded strangely like she was scolding him, "How can you leave your fiancee alone in the condition she's in?"

Yea, she was scolding him.

"Well, she's already gone to bed, so I thought I would too. Where's my stuff?"

His mom just laughed, "Oh, sweetie, your father and I are under no illusion that you and your fiancee don't sleep in the same bed. Your things are in the guest room with her."

Gar could feel his cheeks heating up, "Oh, uh, okay then."

Gar left the room, the door swishing closed behind him, feeling like he wanted to die.

He slowly trudged his way back to his room, seeing that Rachel was, in fact, asleep on the bed. He sighed, careful to take off some of the blankets from the bed and make a mock sleeping bag at the foot of the bed.

* * *

Rachel opened her eyes, before violently shutting them. She groaned, feeling a massive headache. She slowly swung around, facing the alarm clock at the other nightstand. She narrowed her eyes at the numbers that glared back at her, they read 7:00. Rachel growled, leave it to her to wake up early with a hangover. She grunted, pulling the covers over her head and falling back into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up a second time, no less pleasantly, the clock read 11:35. Raven groaned, this time angry that she had overslept to such a degree. _Great, now his family thinks that I'm a bitch, an alcoholic, AND lazy. _Rachel slowly clamored down the stairs to grab breakfast. She distinctly heard Gar talking to his mother, and decided food could wait a few more minutes.

"Why did you invite _him _to stay here, mom?" he groaned.

"You guys used to be the best of friends, I thought it'd be nice for you guys to see each other again," replied Maria, a frown on her aged face.

"But the _whole _week?"

"You never come home anymore, Gar. I thought it would be a nice surprise. I can't just tell him to leave now. Besides, you don't have to do everything together, he can take care of himself for sometime too."

Gar grunted. Deciding that nothing else interesting would be said, Rachel approached Gar and Maria.

"Morning," she greeted, sleepily.

"Oh, hello dear," greeted Maria, "I made some pancakes, would you like any?"

Rachel smiled slightly at Maria, nodding.

"Have a seat, I'll bring them over."

Rachel did as she was asked, sitting at the kitchen counter on an elevated chair. Then Roy stepped into the room, sending her a beaming smile while Maria was busy with the food. Gar narrowed his eyes at Roy, but was shocked to see Rachel smile back. Of course, her smile wasn't nearly as big, but it was still there.

Seeing Roy, several images from the night before flooded Rachel's mind.

* * *

_Roy carried Rachel up to the room, gently sitting her on the edge of the shower in the guest bathroom, inches away from the toilet. He sat next to her, steading her petite form as it threatened to tip too far forward..._

_"Are you feeling okay?" he asked quietly._

_"Yeahh," she replied, pausing for a moment before adding, "You're much nicer than he is, you know."_

_"He who? Garfield?" asked Roy, somewhat perplexed._

_"No, the other he I'm engaged to," she said with a snort, sarcasm evident in her voice._

_Roy laughed. Rachel looked at him curiously before smiling._

_"Why would he ever be mean to you? That just means that he doesn't appreciate you like he should," Roy replied._

_This time, Rachel laughed._

_"Of course he doesn't appreciate me, I never expected him to. He just needs to uphold his end of the deal and we're good."_

_"Deal?" asked Roy._

_Rachel huffed before telling Roy of the arrangement, "Gar agreed to marry me so I wouldn't get deported, he hates me. But I get to keep my job and he gets a promotion...someday."_

_Roy was silent a moment, trying to absorb what she'd just said._

_"But you deserve to marry someone who loves you."_

_She just looked at Roy, her gaze piercing into him._

_"I've given up on that a long time ago."_

_Roy's face softened at her sad tone._

_Taking a deep breath, Roy, trying not to stutter, blurted out, "I'll change that, just promise that you'll give me a chance. This week, I promise, I'll do my best. This week I won't give up on you, just promise me that you'll consider marrying me instead to get your citizenship."_

_Rachel looked at him with surprised, she was honestly touched at his genuine statement._

_She nodded, "Okay, deal."_

_"Thanks, Rachel," he said with a grin, glad to have a chance with her._

_"Call me Raven, all of my friends did," she stated bluntly._

_If it were even possible, Roy beamed more, eager to be considered a friend._

_Then, she found herself hurling into the toilet, with Roy rushing to bring her a toothbrush from her bags._

_

* * *

_Rachel felt ill. Not because she actually was, but because of what happened. For the first time, she allowed thoughts of what would happen to their well crafted plan seep into her mind. She had just given Roy permission to try and win her over, and yet, she needed to pretend to be in love with Garfield so that during the interviews the family would comment on how great they were together.

Rachel really had no idea what to do. And then there was Garfield, should she tell him about what happened? She knew that she should, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. _He'll probably be so mad that I just messed up the entire plan _she thought. She found that by the time breakfast had been set in front of her that she had really lost her appetite. Still, she choked down the meal so as not to offend Maria.

After the most unpleasant meal ever, Rachel decided that she needed to face her problem head on and came up with a brilliant solution: ignore it.

The need for her survival outweighed making a big deal of it. She was paranoid that if she told Roy to back off and got into a fight with him that he'd spill her secret. And Gar, well, she wasn't sure why she was scared to tell Gar, but her heart clenched painfully at the thought of it...

Besides, ignoring it wouldn't be so bad. She had been, as much as she hated to admit it, drunk, after all her pounding head verified that much. And drunk people black out all the time, forgetting part of her night. So she would just go along pretending not to remember the exchange at all, carrying this secret with her to the grave. However, she also needed to find a way to let Roy know that she didn't know, as to stop his advances on her.

Though, part of her contradicted, it was nice having someone who was after her for a change. Still, she couldn't risk swapping Gar for Roy and alienating the family further, as it was, Mark seemed to have taking a special disliking to her from the moment she stepped foot into his house. She couldn't imagine what he'd do if she jumped ship, he'd probably alert Roy's family (after all, they were good friends) and then he'd probably strangle her to death or something. Rachel shuddered at the very thought.

"Hey, Raven, feeling better?" asked Roy, nonchalantly.

Raven went paler, her skin draining of the little color it possessed. She hadn't thought he would call her that in front of everyone. Her shock must have been apparent, because Roy then asked, "Is something wrong?"

On the inside, Rachel was in a panic. What was she going to do about this? Then she decided now was the time to subtly let him know that she had no recollection of the events before.

Gar seemed to regard the pair with...anger? He narrowed his eyes at them, feeling left out.

"Raveennn," called Roy in a sing-song voice, trying to gain her attention once again.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. But how do you know that?" she asked incredulously.

"Know what?" Roy asked, confused.

"My friends used to call me that..." explained Rachel, allowing her sentence to trail off.

"I know, you told me that last night, and you told me that I could call you that," informed Roy, though he, too, seemed shocked that Rachel didn't remember. Rachel could see from the corner of her eye that Gar narrowed his eyes more at Roy. _What is his problem? _she thought.

Still, Rachel ignored Gar's scathing gaze and answered Roy, trying to sound surprised.

"Oh, I did?" she laughed nervously, "Well, I guess you can then. What else did I say, though?"

Roy sighed, and Rachel forced herself to ignore the crestfallen look on his face.

"Nothing important," he mumbled, aware that both Gar and Maria's gazes were fixed on him now.

"Okay," replied Rachel, feeling completely rotten.

She quickly stood up, nearly knocking a plate over and causing an earthquake to rumble in her fragile head, desperate to leave Gar and Roy behind.

"Are you okay?" asked Maria, noticing Rachel's imbalance.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for the pancakes, they were delicious. I'm going to go get ready."

Maria nodded and took Rachel's breakfast plate from her hands, "Be careful, dear."

Rachel nodded, quickly rushing out of the kitchen and back up to the sanctuary of the unoccupied guest bedroom. With the door safely closed, Raven slid to the floor. _What did I just do?_

_

* * *

_

"Can I have a word? Alone," asked Gar curtly.

Roy nodded, "Sure."

Knowing that something was bothering her son as far as his best friend was concerned, Maria took the not-so-subtle hint and darted from the kitchen, leaving the boys to talk about their problems.

"I can see you hitting on _my _fiancee, you know," hissed Gar, "and I don't appreciate it."

"Look, normally I wouldn't do anything, us being friends and all," began Roy, talking quickly before Gar could interrupt him, "But let's be honest here, you don't love her. And she deserves better than that."

Gar froze, _"What?"_

"Last night, she...well, she told me a-about your deal," admitted Roy.

Gar stared stupidly, giving Roy the chance to continue on.

"And you despise her. She deserves better. Hell, maybe I won't be the one she chooses, but I'm certainly going to try to be."

"What the _hell _does that mean? Does that mean anything to you?" snarled Gar, pissed beyond belief for several reasons, "You were always a womanizer, how can you _ever _ deserve her?"

Gar knew that he'd crossed a line, but he didn't care.

"Look, I'm a citizen in America too. She's not confined to marrying you. I intend to show her that. She may not remember it, but last night she promised to give me a chance, one that I intend to take," informed Roy in a steely voice, letting Gar know that he wouldn't back down.

Gar just stood there, absorbing all of this new information. He felt like he'd just been swiftly kicked in the gut, all of the air had rushed out of him and he no longer felt like he could breathe. _...Last night she promised to give me a chance..._

Gar didn't know why, but those words stung him more than his best friend trying to get his fiancee. Because, well, she just showed how she didn't like him, she was willing to jump ship. His dad had been right. Gar barely noticed Roy exit the room.

Finally, after standing rooted in the same spot for a while, Gar reached the conclusion that he wasn't just going to let her go. _Roy is a backstabbing little bastard and I won't let him get her _he decided. With that, Gar set off to find Rachel, he needed to talk to her.

* * *

**Sorry for the long delay, but I hope this made up for it! Let me know what you think in a review! **

**~RukiaRae**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay so I really have no defense for why I haven't been updating this story. I haven't had any ailments or misfortunes (unless you count Chemistry and Calculus, which I do) but I really should've updated sooner. Life keeps getting in the way, but I haven't abandoned this story and I already know how I want it to end, so don't worry I'll eventually finish it :)**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and find it worth the wait!**

Last chapter:

With that, Gar set off to find Rachel, he needed to talk to her.

**Chapter 12**

Gar bounded up the stairs, determined to get some answers from Rachel. For some reason, Roy hitting on her irked him. He always knew that Roy could be selfish, but they were friends. How could he do that?

No, how could she do that?

Gar refused to listen to the nagging voice in his head that kept repeating Roy's words maliciously.

'She deserves better...'

Gar closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his composure. It wasn't she who deserved better, she was a bitch, right? Gar had been the victim from the beginning. He was the one who deserved better. And yet Roy's parting remarks were burned into his mind.

Standing at the landing of the stairs, lost in thought, Gar barely noticed Tara approach.

"Are you feeling okay? You look like you're going to be sick," she commented, concern in her emerald eyes.

Gar looked at her, really looked at her. Sure she was pretty, everyone knew that. Awhile ago, Gar had considered her the pinnacle of beauty and for the longest time after their break up couldn't move on. No one held her beauty or shared his interests like she had.

And yet, looking at her now, she was still undeniably attracive, but Gar found her lacking...something. What it was he really couldn't explain. Sure she had all of the pretty features that she'd had before- the large smile, the deep emerald eyes, the long golden hair, and an aura of happiness about her- and yet, she seemed oddly two-dimensional to him now. She had lost some of her beauty somehow. Gar shook his head, he was really overthinking this.

"Uhh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit frustrated, I guess," he replied good naturedly, wanting to escape from this bland conversation and confront Rachel.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Gar smiled. Tara had always been kind and good-natured like that.

"Nah, don't worry about it," responded Gar, running a hand through his somewhat disheveled hair.

"You sure?" she pressed.

Gar thought momentarily about his problems with Roy. He needed Roy gone or otherwise occupied this week. Then an idea struck him, he could enlist Tara's help in this endeavor.

"Well, I just got into it with Roy and he's going to be staying here the rest of the week," began Gar, "Would you mind kind of keeping him busy or encouraging him to leave. You know my mom wouldn't tolerate me asking, but I'd really appreciate your help with this."

Tara smiled her megawatt smile, "Sure, no problem. I'll try to get him to leave first. And if he's being annoying, I'll help out, no problem.

After a brief pause, Tara finally tenderly asked, "What was the fight about?"

"He's just being a complete jerk," explained Gar with a heavy sigh.

Tara gingerly hugged Gar, "Hey, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just know I'm always here."

Gar hugged her back, remaining in the embrace for awhile. A smile creeped onto his face, he had really forgotten how good it felt being with Tara. She really did understand him and care about him. Part of him knew that getting back with Tara would be the best option, it was obvious that Rachel hated him.

'No, I need that promotion' Gar thought to himself, before detangling himself from Tara's arms. He needed to remain focused. After he got his promotion, he and Rachel could always divorce and then he could allow himself to entertain the idea of getting back together with Tara.

"Uh, thanks," Gar commented awkardly.

"Sure, but you owe me!" she replied, laughing.

"Wait, what? What do I owe you?" asked Gar, ignoring the flirtiness in her voice.

"I haven't decided yet, I'll let you know when I do," she said, grinning.

"What you can't just have _anything."_

"Do you want my help or not?"

"Okay, fine. But please don't make it anything too embarrassing," mentioned Gar.

"Oh, I'm definitely not going to waste this on something stupid like that," she explained before heading downstairs. Gar gulped, almost regretting his decision. Almost. Pushing that encounter into the recesses of his mind, Gar turned to the guest bedroom's wooden door, bracing himself for what was to come. He opened the door, ready to launch into his angry monologue, only to find no one there.

'Where is she?' he wondered.

* * *

Rachel smiled to herself, she had played her cards just right. She just hoped that Roy would get the hint to back off.

Inadvertently, Rachel found her thoughts wandering to Gar and Tara. They seemed so, well, perfect for eachother. Tara was bubbly and helpful and gorgeous. Rachel was just some bitter girl, torn apart and mangled by life. She wasn't perfect, not even close.

Rachel sighed, examining her appearance in the foggy mirror. She was nowhere near as gorgeous as Tara, either. Her eyes only reflected sadness and pain. She only looked awkward when she tried to smile, almost as if she was grimacing in pain. Rachel sighed, 'If it wasn't for the fact that you blackmailed him, he wouldn't be here at all. He doesn't like me.'

Rachel sighed, deciding to stop her mental pity party and instead get ready for the day. Rachel looked around only to discover the fact that she hadn't brought her clothes with her into the bathroom. Rachel cursed her hungover seld, before bracing herself for the coldness of the room.

Rachel opened the door only to see Gar, his back to her thankfully, before giving out a small 'eep' and slamming the door.

Gar wheeled around and noticed the light on in the bathroom. So she had been in the bathroom, but how was it that she hadn't heard him?

"Hey can you go so I can get dressed?" came the muffled voice from the bathroom.

"Sorry, but I am not going back downstairs. Besides, I need to talk to you. I'll turn around while you get dressed, or something," replied Gar.

Rachel groaned inwardly, she was rather hoping to avoid talking to Gar.

"Fine," she agreed in her usual monotone voice, no reason to let him know she was dreading the conversation.

Rachel knew from countless business deals that it was never good to let the other party know you were desperate or that they had the upper hand. It was all about bluffing. In fact, Rachel's business mantra was 'fake it until you make it.'

The same held true now, she was going to act nonchalant about whatever he said. She refused to let him know that he affected her at all. That wouldn't be good. At all.

Cautiously, Rachel emerged from the bathroom, tightly clutching onto her towel. Despite the fact that Gar's back was to her, she would take no chances. Finally, Rachel located the black dress she had packed for that day, but decided against wearing it. She had, after all, wasted half of the day away. No need to waste one of her dressier outfits when she was hungover and not going to need it.

Rachel sighed and pulled out the dark boot cut jeans she'd packed and a plain, black v-neck long sleeved shirt and changed.

"Okay, you can turn around now," she informed him.

Gar turned and found his breath taken away. Sure she wasn't all dressed up, in fact, this was the first time that he hadn't seen her dressed up in a suit or a dress. But it was then that Gar noticed why he no longer considered Tara as beautiful. Tara lacked the depth and the beauty that Rachel did. Gar shook his head, he wasn't going to let his mind wander there. Especially since this was pretty much a business deal, he needed to keep his distance from Rachel.

Still, he couldn't help but like Rachel in her everyday attire. It made her seem more, well, approachable. Certainly not like the bitch that he'd grown accostomed to seeing her as.

After a few seconds of Gar staring, Rachel asked "What?"

"Huh?" was Gar's smart reply.

"What? You're staring. Do I have something on my face?" asked Rachel, before disappearing into the bathroom.

Gar smirked, who knew Rachel could be so vain.

Upon exiting the bathroom, Rachel saw Gar's smirk.

"I am not vain, I'm here to meet your parents and I would like to look my best, thank-you very much," she explained.

Gar laughed, "Sure, okay."

Rachel huffed, not bothering to insist that her explanation was true. Because, well, it wasn't. But still, no need to let him know that.

"Well, what did you want to talk about?" Rachel asked.

Gar was ready to launch into his angry speech that he had planned on his trip up to the room. He was going to tell her how it was unacceptable that she'd tell Roy about the deal, how she needed to be more careful and not get drunk, how she'd made a fool of herself in front of his whole family. However, looking at her, Gar opted for a different approach, maybe if he showed interest, she wouldn't be so abrasive.

"Well, earlier, Roy said-" began Gar before Rachel interrupted.

"I know what he said, but I don't remember even talking to him about anything. I swear," defended Rachel, eager to close this topic of conversation.

"No, I understand that," remarked Gar.

"Oh."

"I was just thinking, how he called you Raven, that there are still things that I guess I don't know about you," he explained, "and with the interview coming up next week, I figured we ought to spend some time every day getting to know each other better."

Rachel raised a brow at him and smirked, "There was something about me you didn't know. Looks like you've been slacking."

It took Gar a brief moment to realize that she was, in fact, kidding. He laughed.

"I guess, that could be okay. But right now I'm going to go make myself a nice warm cup of tea," informed Rachel, before taking her leave.

It was only after she left that Gar realized two things. One, she understood him better than he'd thought. His mind flashed back to when she dashed into the bathroom, looking for an imperfection that she thought existed. And when she came out of the bathroom, she knew what he had been thinking and had given an explanation before he made a comment.

And two, this was the first time that he had ever heard Rachel make a joke. Ever. She was always completely serious.

Could it be that maybe she was more human than he gave her credit for?

And then it hit him, he had just asked to know more about her. He really was awful at just keeping things business like. After all, he already could answer all of the questions in the book, right? He didn't need to delve any deeper, and yet he wanted to know more about her. Gar groaned, around Rachel his plans just went to shit.

Gar shook his head, this was shaping up to be an odd week, that was definitely certain.

* * *

**Okay, so I know this is a bit shorter than other chapters, by about 1,000 words, but I have midterms tomorrow and throughout next week. I definitely plan to write more this weekend, but for the time being, most of my chapters will probably be shorter since I have to moderate the time I spend writing. Still, I hope you all liked it!**

**I had also planned to get a bit farther, but I promise next chapter is when things will start happening (and then I'll be able to use the awesome information you gave me, TitanNegro). This was more of a transitional chapter to show that 1. Roy is somewhat taken care of for the time being and 2. Gar is shifting his perspective on Rachel and 3. Gar and Rachel are growing a bit closer. Hope those things were clear.**

**Please review if you have the chance! I'll try to get another 2,000 word chapter up by Sunday/Monday, hopefully focused a bit more on Rachel's views toward Garfield, with a bit more action sprinkled in :)**

**Once again, please please review! :D**

**~RukiaRae**


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